I am new to this forum and I just posted about medication errors. I had to ask everyone about needlestick safety. As a new nurse I was stuck with a dirty needle left in a bed. I am now vigilent about about needle safety and always use the needle-protective device if it is availiable. But I am so surprised by the number of nurses I see not activating the needle safety devices. Do you all always use the devices and what do you think of them?
Sorry to hear that you got stuck.. I have to play Mom here and ask if you followed up on the injury. Incident report and appropriate testing.
I work with 15 gauge needles so I am pretty darn careful..LOLL
I don't like many of the safety thingys out there as it seems they are hard to manuveur (sp)..
WR,,, three commas for Becca
I try to use the safety devices expecially when starting IV's maybe not as much as giving IVP. The only time I have been stuck was recapping a clean insulin syringe..the needle came right through the cap and adding pit to a hanging IV bag (after placenta delivery)I was holding the port and the needle came through the side of the bag so I had to get a whole new bag anyway. I always throw my needle away the only time luckily I've ever seen any not thrown away I knew where they were (anthesia left them in the tray for me to clean up) or one left on a table when someone missed an IV and asked me to go look and they've left theirs on the table with the safety device on.
I found the best safety device is a good nurse. Many needle sticks I have seen are from needles in beds or I V needles left on tables or carts after IV was started. Here we have gone almost to a complete needless system. Our IV needles self cover after extracting from the insite. I know of two nurses who have hep-c here from needle sticks. enforce safety on your units. Any body that has a slack attitude to needle safety does not need to be in nursing.
I am such a hard but.
I can't stand people who say, "Lifes' too short". Well hell, LIFE is the longest thing we do.
I try to use the safety device. Some are easier to use than others. When JCAHO inspected a hospital I worked at 2 years ago we were told that they sometimes opened sharps containers to make sure we were following protocol of using the needle-protection devices. I don't think they did though.
the best safety device is no needles at all- get blunt cannula access devices and hound your hospital until they switch out- there should be ZERO IV pushes done with needles. Only needles should be for starting IVs and drawing bloods pretty much- and they should all have caps/retractable needles- and be disposed of diligently - and promptly.
Even CPR isnt reason enough to risk your own life- the 2 seconds it takes to dispose of sharps gives you a lifetime of helping others.
Let's not forget the ever popular IM and SQ that have to be given with that needle cause the blunt cannula really hurts when you try to give an IM with it
Here we use the clave needless system. Only use needles to draw up meds. Our IM inj. have retractable needles. Our IV catheter in an Introcan Safety the has a device that covers the needle when you pull it out of the catheter. Only needles we have exposed is the TB and insulin needles. Our needle sticks have dropped to 3 in the last 6 months. I still say that a safe nurse is the best defense against needle sticks.
Our IV's are the retractable ones with a spring but that can still not work if you don't push the button to retract the needle. I've seen nurses pull the needle out (like inthose old wash tub days LOL) then when they get done taping the IV push the button on the needle that's been laying there on the bed, to retract the needle. We tried the one with the cover but we had lots of uncooridanted people. They also messed up lots of the spring one. For the IM's we have a thing that slides over the needle. The butterfly for lab is a pain in the butt as the cover is kind of flimsy. Our TB syringe does have a cover also but not the insulin ones
WASH TUB DAYS????? LOLLLLL
WR,,, three commas for Becca
We had a really cheap brand, and I almost stuck myself trying to protect myself. Now in Home Health, I very rarely start IV's or give shots
When I was in home health I started a butt load of IV's and gave lots of shots and drew lots of blood. If someone couldn't get the blood draw they'd send me...the thought was she can start babies and draw from babies so she can do a 90 year old lady with hard rolly veins too which I usually can but it was their thinking. We had to carry a needle box with us. I worked for a hospital based HH agency so we used the same supplies the hospital used except if they patient had some weird insurance then they'd get supplies form who knows where....that made for a good experience as I did see all kinds of equipment kind of like traveling I guess.
In surgery, always watch your field, use proper passing techinque/passing trays... but there is always that surgeon who will inject and throw the syringe with exposed needle on the mayo stand... better be quick to jerk your hands out of the way! And if you do get stuck with a dirty needle, ALWAYS follow your facility's policy by reporting it and getting the proper tests done on you and the patient.
The last clinic I worked in had B-D syringes with safety needles,and they worked fine, but they got a good deal on a case load of Kendall's. I disliked them at once, because the safety gauge does not entirely engage unless you really hit it hard. What happens is, the safety cover stops about 1/8" shy of covering the tip of the exposed needle. Then, from instinct, the nurse will bring her opposite hand around toward the syringe and tap it to try to finish the job! This is exactly what happened to me. Luckily the pt. that I had just been exposed to was willing to have the blood draw and we're both good. I reported the incident to Occ. Health, and the RN intake let it slip when she said,"Oh,no, not another needle stick-you're the third this week, and it's because they got those cheap syringes." Not too much later, I left for a better job. I went to another clinic who was just going to be getting their first safety syringes--you'll never guess which company they went for--uh, huh-the Kendall's. Even though I told the site supervisor about the increased needle sticks with that brand, the deal had already been made and we are stuck with them-pardon the pun!
First of all let me say that I am a first semester nursing student. So this reply is based entirely on first hand knowledge of the business world, and second hand knowledge of the medical world. My wife has worked in the same ER for 20 years, so I have seen all the changes. Her hospital was one of the few remaining ones still ran by the nuns. It didt matter who you were or if you had insurance or not. Everyone got whatever help they needed. But those days are gone, and business has taken over. This is where that almighty bottom line has creeped in. I have seen her hospital make changes that are directed at only making money. Getting brownie points with the powers that be, with no thought of the cost to safety.Since I live in North Central Texas, I have seen some really small hospitals working hard to keep a profit just so that they can keep their doors open. Which seems justified to me on cost cutting measures. But most are so that someone or group can look good or get really good bonuses. And sad as it may be, this is the way it will remain. I assume if you go somewhere that actually makes a syringe choice because its a better and safer one, you need to consider urself lucky. But dont hold your breath if you think all will be that way. But hey, the world outside of of the medical profession is just like that, the allmighty dollar rules.
Keep The Faith
Jerry
