Summary: Current Events In Business Research
Current Events in Business Research
Jennifer Howse
Res/351
May 11, 2015
Tracy Sipma
Current Events in Business Research Phlebotomist and nurses has been around for years and the article I am writing about will describe the business research process that came about to help prevent needles sticks.
How needle sticks occur The main reason health care workers are stuck by needles are from negligence. They are not taking the proper precautions and not following proper protocol when it comes to properly performing venipuntures. Blood exposure through needle sticks became apparent once the AIDS became an epidemic. People started taking the needle sticks more seriously. 800,000 needle sticks were being reported yearly. Health care professionals …show more content…
are at risk every day to many different types of illness and diseases. Many are incurable. HIV, hepatitis B and C, Ebola are just some of the bloodborne pathogens that can spread.
Corporate response In order to diagnose the problem many businesses used focus groups and took surveys to try to find a better way to perform blood draws and give medicine. Manufacturers began reacting to the need for greater needle-procedure safety. More than a thousand patents have been issued since 1984 for devices designed to avoid occupational blood exposure, ranging from blunt cannulas and syringes with special safety features to needleless access devices on IV tubing systems, and even tissue adhesives to replace sutures for repairing superficial lacerations.
The Study Six hospitals participated in a study from 1993 to 1995.
During a "pre-change" phase (nine to 12 months long, depending on institution), the incidence of needle sticks using conventional phlebotomy devices was monitored. Observation was heightened and reporting was encouraged. A total of 563 needle sticks were reported in surveys returned by 1,699 employees among the four sections of groups included-phlebotomists, nurses, residents, and medical students.
In phase II, three different safety devices (Becton Dickinson 's resheathable winged steel needle; Bio-Plexus 's bluntable vacuum-tube blood-collection needle; and Concord Portex 's vacuum-tube blood-collection needle with a hinged recapping sheath) were introduced to replace conventional phlebotomy devices for the next 12 months. When the survey was repeated near the end of this 12-month phase, needle stick injuries were significantly reduced with all three products. A total of 41 needle sticks were reported by the 1,421 respondents-a substantial decrease from pre-change findings. Of these injuries, 25 occurred prior to activation of the device 's safety feature after removal from the vein, and six occurred during activation. Thus, the only multi-center study to examine the effect of safety devices on the rate of needle stick injuries found a significant …show more content…
benefit.
With an estimated $2,500 spent to test and treat each staff member stuck by a needle-including the expenses of an emergency department or occupational health visit, lost work time, counseling, prophylactic medication, and administrative and liability costs-safety devices may pay for themselves.
Long-standing medical costs for a single staff member who seroconvert from an occupational exposure to HIV can easily exceed $500,000, while implementing safer phlebotomy devices will cost a medium-sized hospital $10,000 to $12,000 a year. With the manufactures making safer devices to help with the daily needle use, many companies have purchased such devices and have sent staff to safety classes to learn how to safely perform the
task.
Conclusion
There’s not real way to ever stop needle sticks but a business can have the proper materials available to perform the job safely. A business also needs to have the proper policies and procedures in place in case someone does have an exposure. The best way to prevent this if for the employee to take extra precautions when using sharp objects like steel needles, blunt needles, and retractable needles. Even a retractable has been used if your hand is in the way while you are retracting the needle you can still end up sticking yourself. Health care professionals should also treat each patient the same, everybody has AIDS or something much worse. If you treat each patient like they are already contagious they you will not have to worry about if what they have the precaution is already there.
References
Garvin, M. Innovative new equipment lowers risks of needlesticks. Health Facilities Management 9(10), 1996
Bayne, C. G. Who is getting stuck, anyway? Nurse Manager 28(10):20-23, 1997
Jagger, J. Reducing occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens: Where do we stand a decade later? Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 17(9):573-575, 1996
Jennifer Howse
Res/351
May 11, 2015
Tracy Sipma
Current Events in Business Research Phlebotomist and nurses has been around for years and the article I am writing about will describe the business research process that came about to help prevent needles sticks.
How needle sticks occur The main reason health care workers are stuck by needles are from negligence. They are not taking the proper precautions and not following proper protocol when it comes to properly performing venipuntures. Blood exposure through needle sticks became apparent once the AIDS became an epidemic. People started taking the needle sticks more seriously. 800,000 needle sticks were being reported yearly. Health care professionals …show more content…
are at risk every day to many different types of illness and diseases. Many are incurable. HIV, hepatitis B and C, Ebola are just some of the bloodborne pathogens that can spread.
Corporate response In order to diagnose the problem many businesses used focus groups and took surveys to try to find a better way to perform blood draws and give medicine. Manufacturers began reacting to the need for greater needle-procedure safety. More than a thousand patents have been issued since 1984 for devices designed to avoid occupational blood exposure, ranging from blunt cannulas and syringes with special safety features to needleless access devices on IV tubing systems, and even tissue adhesives to replace sutures for repairing superficial lacerations.
The Study Six hospitals participated in a study from 1993 to 1995.
During a "pre-change" phase (nine to 12 months long, depending on institution), the incidence of needle sticks using conventional phlebotomy devices was monitored. Observation was heightened and reporting was encouraged. A total of 563 needle sticks were reported in surveys returned by 1,699 employees among the four sections of groups included-phlebotomists, nurses, residents, and medical students.
In phase II, three different safety devices (Becton Dickinson 's resheathable winged steel needle; Bio-Plexus 's bluntable vacuum-tube blood-collection needle; and Concord Portex 's vacuum-tube blood-collection needle with a hinged recapping sheath) were introduced to replace conventional phlebotomy devices for the next 12 months. When the survey was repeated near the end of this 12-month phase, needle stick injuries were significantly reduced with all three products. A total of 41 needle sticks were reported by the 1,421 respondents-a substantial decrease from pre-change findings. Of these injuries, 25 occurred prior to activation of the device 's safety feature after removal from the vein, and six occurred during activation. Thus, the only multi-center study to examine the effect of safety devices on the rate of needle stick injuries found a significant …show more content…
benefit.
With an estimated $2,500 spent to test and treat each staff member stuck by a needle-including the expenses of an emergency department or occupational health visit, lost work time, counseling, prophylactic medication, and administrative and liability costs-safety devices may pay for themselves.
Long-standing medical costs for a single staff member who seroconvert from an occupational exposure to HIV can easily exceed $500,000, while implementing safer phlebotomy devices will cost a medium-sized hospital $10,000 to $12,000 a year. With the manufactures making safer devices to help with the daily needle use, many companies have purchased such devices and have sent staff to safety classes to learn how to safely perform the
task.
Conclusion
There’s not real way to ever stop needle sticks but a business can have the proper materials available to perform the job safely. A business also needs to have the proper policies and procedures in place in case someone does have an exposure. The best way to prevent this if for the employee to take extra precautions when using sharp objects like steel needles, blunt needles, and retractable needles. Even a retractable has been used if your hand is in the way while you are retracting the needle you can still end up sticking yourself. Health care professionals should also treat each patient the same, everybody has AIDS or something much worse. If you treat each patient like they are already contagious they you will not have to worry about if what they have the precaution is already there.
References
Garvin, M. Innovative new equipment lowers risks of needlesticks. Health Facilities Management 9(10), 1996
Bayne, C. G. Who is getting stuck, anyway? Nurse Manager 28(10):20-23, 1997
Jagger, J. Reducing occupational exposure to bloodborne pathogens: Where do we stand a decade later? Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 17(9):573-575, 1996