Frequency of use and activation of safety-engineered sharps devices: a sharps container audit in five Australian capital cities

Terry Grimmond FASM, BAgrSc, GrDpAdEd
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引用次数: 4

Abstract

Introduction

Sharps injuries (SI) among healthcare personnel (HCP) in Australia are of such concern the matter was brought before Parliament in 2013. Many SI from safety-engineered devices (SED) are due to nonactivation. Monitoring of activation is recommended. This paper outlines a sharps container (SC) contents audit conducted in Australian capital cities.

Methods

Reusable, 22 L SC (Sharpsmart, Daniels Corporation, Melbourne) were randomly selected from random healthcare facilities (HCF) in five cities. Wearing protective apparel, the operator opened and decanted SC and sorted hollow-bore needles (HBN) into: capped v. uncapped non-SED, and activated or non-fully activated SED. Volumes and weights were recorded for inter-study comparisons. WinPepi v2.78 was used to calculate probability (significance set at ≤ 0.05), relative-risk and 95% confidence limits.

Results

1212 L of sharps (167.9 kg) from 102 SC from 27 hospitals were audited. Many devices were bloodcontaminated. Of the 9651 HBN, 30.4% were SED and 19.4% of the SED were not, or partially, activated. Of the 6718 non-SED, 30.6% were capped needles or capped needle-syringes. City averages for capped or naked sharps ranged from 64.2% (Sydney) to 97.8% (Adelaide) while hospital averages ranged from 32.6 to 100%. Overall, 54.2% of devices were discarded ‘sharp’.

Conclusions

It is disturbing that 75.5% of hollow-bore needles were capped or naked, indicating a high proportion of Australian HCP are unnecessarily at risk of SI while handling sharps. The high non-use of SED and non-activation of SED needs researching.Widespread SED evaluation and adoption (automatic and semi-automatic SED where feasible), repetitive competency training and safety-ownership are needed. Legislation may be indicated.

使用频率和激活安全工程尖锐设备:尖锐的集装箱审计在五个澳大利亚首都城市
澳大利亚医疗保健人员(HCP)中的锐器伤害(SI)引起了人们的关注,2013年这一问题被提交给了议会。许多来自安全工程设备(SED)的SI是由于非激活。建议监控激活情况。本文概述了在澳大利亚首都城市进行的尖锐容器(SC)内容审计。方法从5个城市的随机医疗机构(HCF)中随机抽取可重复使用的22张lsc (Sharpsmart, Daniels Corporation, Melbourne)。操作员穿着防护服,打开并倒入SC,并将空心针(HBN)分类为:带帽的和未带帽的非SED,激活的或未完全激活的SED。记录体积和重量用于研究间比较。使用WinPepi v2.78计算概率(显著性≤0.05)、相对风险和95%置信限。结果27家医院102家SC共检出尖锐物1212 L (167.9 kg)。许多设备都被血污染了。在9651个HBN中,30.4%是SED, 19.4%没有或部分激活。在6718名非sed患者中,30.6%是带帽针头或带帽针头注射器。城市的平均值从64.2%(悉尼)到97.8%(阿德莱德)不等,而医院的平均值从32.6%到100%不等。总体而言,54.2%的设备被“尖锐”地丢弃。结论令人不安的是,75.5%的空心针头被盖住或裸露,这表明澳大利亚HCP在处理利器时有很高的不必要的SI风险。SED高不利用率和SED不活化问题需要进一步研究。广泛的SED评估和采用(在可行的情况下自动和半自动SED)、重复的能力培训和安全所有权是必要的。可以指出立法。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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