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Safety
Learning from others
When it comes to sustaining sharps safety,
AORN's Emily Jones suggests looking to success
stories in published quality improvement
projects. For example, she points to a
2018 quality improvement project published
by Gurria et al who demonstrated a successful
decrease in sharps injuries after implementing
a bundled sharps safety initiative
with clear verbal communication when passing
sharps, devices with engineered sharps
injury prevention features, a neutral zone,
and double gloving (see References).
injury prevention. Surveyors from accrediting
organizations such as The
Joint Commission definitely have sharps
safety practices in their observational
purview, as do potential new hires.
The Joint Commission
focuses on adherence
to policy and procedure,
which should be
based on CDC, OSHA,
and any local regulatory
requirements, says Elizabeth
Mort, MD, MPH,
vice president and
chief medical officer
Elizabeth
Mort, MD,
MPH
of The Joint Commission. She recommends
devoting particular focus to safe
handling, avoiding recapping needles
where appropriate, and management of
sharps disposal containers.
Surveyors also evaluate compliance
with meeting three of The Joint Commission's
hospital standards for sharps
safety:
* EC.02.02.01 EP 5 on minimizing
risks with handling and disposing
of hazardous chemicals, including
bloodborne pathogens.
* IC.06.01.01 EP 3 on implementing
activities for surveillance, prevention,
and control of health care-associated
infections and other infectious
diseases, including bloodborne
pathogens.
* IC.06.01.01 EP 5 on implementing
policies and procedures to minimize
18
OR Manager | Mar/Apr 2025
Where to start
Have you implemented successful strategies
to fuel a sharps safety culture in your
ORs? Perhaps you initiated a successful trial
with an interdisciplinary team on preferred
sharps safety devices. Maybe you implemented
new practices to reduce distraction
during safety critical sharps tasks. Whatever
the improvement, OR Manager would like to
highlight your work. Share your sharps safety
successes with Matt Danford, managing editor,
at mdanford@accessintel.com.
the risk of communicable disease
exposure and acquisition among its
staff, in accordance with law and
regulation.
Sharps safety and wellness are a
shared focus for The Joint Commission
through their Workforce Safety and Wellbeing
Resource Center. This collection
of resources includes a section on biological
hazards, which provides action
to avoid sharps injuries.
As for potential new hires, organizations
can expect questions about safety
culture. In a market where staffing numbers
are still precarious, research and
surveys indicate that OR leaders should
think about sharps safety (and safety in
general) as part of recruitment and retention
strategies. For example, a 2022
Gallup poll indicated employees increasingly
seek to work for employers who
demonstrate care for their wellbeing.
Occupational safety in general is part of
ongoing discussions among workforce
experts to recruit and retain staff.
Bloodborne pathogen exposure to
diseases such as hepatitis and HIV-
both illnesses requiring lifelong treatment-also
can impact retention of existing
staff. This risk increases without
immediate medical treatment for any
percutaneous injury, which brings the
discussion right back to reporting. One
study found that almost 60% of healthcare
workers worldwide do not report
sharps injuries.
Igniting improvements requires proactively
engaging diverse stakeholders on
all aspects of sharps safety. OR leaders
can target their efforts in three areas:
❶ Gathering champions. Implementing
the organizational sharps safety program
recommended in the updated
AORN guidance should begin with
convening an interdisciplinary team
of stakeholders. Including leadership
and quality and risk management
experts helps ensure a more comprehensive
understanding of sharps
safety by incorporating multiple
perspectives. Jones suggests performing
audits by observing sharps
safety practices in the OR and interviewing
team members about what
could be improved. " This can be a
way to gain understanding and build
genuine trust within the team, which
is crucial because it fosters a positive
work environment, encourages
open communication, and enhances
team collaboration, " she says.
❷ Assessing safety
tools and training.
In addition to audits
of current practices,
infection prevention
consultant and
former OR manager
Peter Graves, BSN,
RN, CNOR,
suggests
conducting a
gap analysis and observations for
knowledge and compliance with facility
and AORN recommendations.
He emphasizes the need for facilitywide
collaboration, including with
employee/occupational health, to
ensure that sharps safety devices
are always accessible and develop
protocols such as a staff- and surgeon-approved
double-gloving system.
Graves also stresses the importance
of ongoing education and
training. " People don't realize the
tens of thousands of needlesticks
that occur annually are mostly if not
www.ormanager.com
Peter Graves,
BSN, RN,
CNOR
http://www.ormanager.com
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