orm_mar_apr-2025 - 17

Safety
Takeaways
* The prevalence of needlesticks and other sharp object injuries to OR team members is 42.8%, an increase of 16% over
the past decade.
* New research and perspectives are shaping the discourse around sharps safety, such as new and expanded evidencebased
practices presented in AORN's 2025 update to the Guideline for Sharps Safety.
* Means of improving sharps safety in the OR include incorporating multiple perspectives, implementing detailed training
and safety assessments, and focusing on building a culture of safety.
Sharps, Stanton
Continued from page 1
gists, and students. In fact, the prevalence
of needlesticks and other
sharp object injuries to OR team
members is 42.8%-an increase of
16% over the past decade, according
to data reported to the Exposure
Prevention Information Network surveillance
system (EPINet) through
the International Safety Center.
Amber Hogan Mitchell,
DrPH, MPH, president
and executive
director of the International
Safety Center,
encourages OR leaders
to " remain diligent
in evaluating their injury
numbers and consider
new technologies, safer
devices, and practices to prevent these
high risk worker injuries. "
Amber Hogan
Mitchell,
DrPH, MPH
Mirroring EPINet's data, other research
quantifying sharps injury by profession
show risks to all members of a
perioperative team. Most injuries sustained
by surgeons and surgical residents
occur during use. Sharps injuries
to nurses and surgical technologists
tend to occur during passing, disassembling,
and disposal. One study found
22% of the injuries within the OR occur
during hand-to-hand passing of sharps.
* New guidance for prevention. Despite
strict requirements from the
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) and other statelevel
agencies mandating employee
protections from sharps hazards,
the increases in injuries suggest a
www.ormanager.com
chasm between safety requirements
and safety practices.
AORN Senior Perioperative
Practice Specialist
Emily Jones, MSN,
RN, CNOR, EBP-C,
wants to help close this
gap. She is the lead author
of AORN's 2025
update to the Guideline
for Sharps Safety, which
provides several new
Emily Jones,
MSN, RN,
CNOR, EBP-C
and expanded evidence-based practices
to help leaders manage a comprehensive
sharps injury prevention program
and help teams select safety engineered
devices. One major addition is a
recommendation to create an organizational
sharps safety program to help establish
and cultivate a culture of safety.
Culture change
requires more than
telling staff to be
careful.
The guideline outlines three main
tasks:
❶ Support adherence to all elements
of the CDC/NIOSH hierarchy of
controls for sharps safety. Sharps
safety is included along with other
occupational safety hazards in the
OR, such as exposure to surgical
smoke and ergonomic injury. These
controls provide structure for prioritizing
interventions to reduce bloodborne
pathogen exposure, starting
with eliminating or substituting the
hazard when possible and then providing
engineering controls, administrative
controls, and personal protective
equipment. The hierarchy's
overarching emphasis is on an organizational
commitment to a safety
culture, which is an area ripe for
improvement in some organizations,
Jones says. The update's inclusion
of leadership and culture of safety
illustrate the importance of institutional
support.
❷ Promote sharps injury prevention.
This covers day-to-day sharps safety
practices, including adherence to
policies and procedures and consistent
use of engineered safety devices
such as blade-removal tools
and blunt-tip suture needles. To help
with team member buy-in and consistency,
the guideline now covers
evaluating devices with sharps injury
prevention features.
❸ Encourage injury reporting throughout
the organization. Understanding
the problem is difficult if team members
are not reporting sharps injuries.
This is an area that could be
challenging for leaders in shifting the
culture of safety, Jones says. The
latest literature shows that creating
a non-punitive environment, where
individuals feel psychologically safe
to report sharps injuries, can improve
reporting consistency. Brief,
easy-to-access injury reporting systems
helps encourage reporting as
well. The guideline also offers new
evidence justifying safety practices
such as double gloving and safe disposal
of sharp devices.
Who is watching
Stakeholders across healthcare have a
discerning eye when it comes to sharps
OR Manager | Mar/Apr 2025 17

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