Surgery Team Drops Accidental Needle Sticks to 0
- Creating “Pass Free Zone,” to discourage staff from directly handing needles and other sharps to one another
- Educating staff on how to handle used needles, and employing face-to-face conversations
- Issuing fliers with the count of needle-stick, injury-free days posted throughout the medical center
What can your team do to decrease injuries in your area? What else could your team use to encourage each other?
Plagued by accidental needle sticks, the Ontario Vineyard Ambulatory Surgery Team created a “Pass Free Zone,” which enables staff members to place syringes or scalpels on a surgical tray instead of handing them off to one another. To reinforce and encourage the new approach, team members used “countdown” posters to highlight injury-free days. They also posted informational fliers to remind staff of workplace safety goals and results. The team’s efforts created a source of pride that served to motivate staff even more than the fear of injury.
This ambulatory surgery team saw needle sticks drop to 0 when it supplemented education on how to handle used needles with a count of how many days the staff remained injury-free.
A "pass free zone" helps workers avoid accidental needle sticks.
the number of accidental needle-stick injuries in six months