Needle Injuries in Nursing for Hypodermic Syringes - myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theNeedle Stick Injuries in Nursing for Hypodermic Syringes. Answer: Issues and hazards at workplace are very common occurrences in the modern times. One such issue evident in the nursing sectors is the issue of needle stick injuries. Needle stick injuries generally refer to the wounds caused by the accidental needle punctures on the skin (Himmelreich et al., 2013). These are known to be hazardous for the people who work with the hypodermic syringes or other equipment that involve needles. These injuries generally happen at any time while the concerned person uses, disassembles or disposes the needles. These injuries refer to the penetration of the skin by a sharp object generally a needle. The penetration generally takes place by the needles that have been in contact with the tissues, blood or any other fluid of the body before being exposed to the environment. These injuries majorly affect the health care workers (Seng et al, 2013). The other professionals that are affected by these injuries are the tattoo artists, laborers, agricultural workers, pr eparers of food and the enforcers of law. These injuries may be responsible for the transmission of several blood-borne diseases that are infectious. Some of these diseases include human immunodeficiency virus or HIV, hepatitis C or HCV and the hepatitis B or HBV (Wicker et al, 2014). There have been recorded 25 different blood-borne viruses that have been caused in the laboratory personnel and the health care professionals due to the injuries caused by the needle sticks. According to the estimations, maximum occupational injuries caused by the needle sticks are not reported as the physiological effects of these injuries are generally negligible in degrees of their acuteness (Shalmani, Ranjbar Alizadeh, 2013). The following essay looks into the hazards that are faced due to the needle stick injuries that take place in the hospitals and other such organizations that deal with the uses of needles and syringes. The essay reflects on an incident of needle stick injury that took place at a hospital in Saudi Arabia. The reflective essay then proceeds with the reflection and explains the incident from the point of view of the nursing staff and facilities. The composition then goes on to assess the incident using the Kolbs reflective cycle, a model used in the study of nursing. A self-evaluation follows the above mentioned discussion. In this self-evaluation is mentioned the precautionary measures or the methods that can be used to avoid such situations in the future. The self-evaluation also brings to the limelight some of the impacts that we had faced due to the occurrence. The essay finally concludes with some recommendations as to how these types of incidents can be avoided in the future times . There has been reported several cases of the needle stick injuries in the profession of nursing. A six-month long study that had been carried out among the health-care workers in the Maternity and Childrens Hospital, Najran, Saudi Arabia had revealed that these incidents of needle stick injuries were a commonplace occurrence (Hashmi, Al Reesh Indah, 2012). The subjects of this study included all the health care workers who were involved with the hospital. The group of study took into consideration even the resident, specialist and consultant doctors, the nurses, the other allied staff related to the health care departments, the people who were hired to take care of the disposal of the waste generated during the medical procedures and the cleaning staff (Memish et al, 2013). The injuries that were taken into account were the injuries caused due to the sharp needles like those that were used in the pathology departments for collecting blood along with the hypodermic needles, suture ne edles, the intravenous cannulas, the intravenous sets that used winged needles, the needles that are used to connect the different parts of the intravenous delivery systems. This study also took into consideration the injuries that were caused due to the scalpels (Who.int, 2017). The members who took part in the survey were asked to asked to report to the Infection Control Nurse on the timings of the occurrences of the incidents of the injuries. An acquaintance of mine had been directly involved in one such case of needle stick injury. She was an employee in the emergency department of the hospital. She had been entrusted with the activity of collecting blood samples from a patient who had come in to get tested for hepatitis B. She had already withdrawn the amount of blood that was needed as a sample for testing the patient. While sheathing the needle-tip after the collection, the needle accidentally had penetrated the skin of the collector resulting in a needle stick injury in the hospital. There has also been similar reporting of injuries by the nurses who are in charge of the patients admitted in the hospital. A nurse had reported one such incident where she had faced an injury while applying the intravenous saline syringe on a patient in the emergency department. According to her, the needle had accidentally penetrated her fingers resulting in a negligible amount of blood loss. A nurse who was posted in the ICU section o f the emergency department of the hospital had reported another such incident where the needle that had penetrated her finger was meant for injecting intravenous medicines to the patient. She was in a hurry as this injection had to be applied within a stipulated period of time otherwise the patient would face severe consequences. She had to apply the medication within the short window of time that was provided to her. She had accidentally inserted the needle tip into her fingertip which resulted in blood loss of the concerned nurse. The patient however had received the medication at the proper time. The cases of needle stick injuries have also been reported by the cleaning staff of the hospital. The workers who are involved in the disposal of the equipment that have been in use in the various activities of the hospital, are not educated enough to know the various conditions that may arise from the seemingly innocent needle stick injuries. The cleaning staff members have often reported the incidents where they had to face these types of injuries. These incidents are not generally reported thereby avoiding required treatment. One such incident was faced by a worker while disposing off a syringe that was used to collect the blood sample of a person who had been found to have responded positively to the test for human immunodeficiency virus or HIV. According to him, the needle had accidentally pierced in the peripheral vein of his left hand. The worker did not report of the injury as he did not consider the incident to be dangerous. The worker did not even know that the needle had b een in use for the collection of the blood sample of a patient who had come in to get tested for HIV. The employee, on reporting the incident, had his blood-test conducted to make sure that he had not been suffering from the disease. Staff had been hired to help in the disposal of the used needles and other such disposable equipment that had been in use in the operation theatre. One of those staff had reported to have got injured due to a scalpel. This equipment had been used to operate on a lady who had been suffering from hepatitis B. The cleaning person had been very stressed out on the fact that he might have contracted the disease. He was relieved only when a test conducted on his blood sample revealed that he had not contracted it. The most common type of the injury caused by these sharp instruments are the sceptic injuries. These may result when a deep needle wound is created and the injury reaches the inner blood vessels. The concerned victim of the needle stick injury may contract diseases that are caused by the blood borne viruses. These injuries may also occur in the emergency department of the hospital or other nursing facilities and may prove to be fatal if not looked into at the appropriate time. The equipment used in the nursing professions should be handled carefully in order to avoid such injuries. These equipments mainly include the sharp needles like those that were used in the emergency departments for collecting blood for the proper diagnosis of the disease so as to provide the correct treatment to the patient. Apart from these, the instruments also refer to the hypodermic needles, suture needles, the intravenous cannulas, the intravenous sets that used winged needles, the needles that are used t o connect the different parts of the intravenous delivery systems (Leigh et al., 2017). The other instruments that are considered to be involved in this menacing hazard are the scalpels and other instruments that are used in the conduction of surgeries and in the pathological laboratories. There may be cases of broken glass equipments that may cause contamination if brought in contact with the blood of the sufferer. In all the above mentioned cases, it is seen that the conditions could be avoided if the victims would have been a bit more careful with their own self. In case of the first incident, my acquaintance could have avoided the incident if she had been a bit more careful while sheathing the needle after withdrawing the blood of the lady who had come in for the test of hepatitis B. The accidental pricking of the needle tip could have caused the infection caused the contamination of her blood thereby causing the disease that is caused by the transfer of the virus. The nurse in the next case could have prevented the injury had she been a bit more careful in the application of the intravenous saline channel. The same may be advised in case of the other nurse who had been appointed to inject the intravenous medication in case of the emergency patient who was admitted in the ICU. The cleaning staff also must be made aware of such happenings. They should be careful enough in their handling of the medical equipments that need to be disposed after usage (Askarian et al., 2012). This generally refers to the needles that have been used to collect the blood samples that needs to be examined for the detection of any disease that the patient is doubted to have been suffering from. These needles may also be used to collect any other bodily fluid and may be the apt medium through which the viruses and other disease causing elements may gain entry into the body system of a healthy person. The employees also have to keep a keen eye on the fact that broken equipment is got rid of very carefully. These are also the potential sources through which blood contamination is possible. If the broken piece of equipment had resulted in the blood loss of a patient suffering from a blood borne disease, the person who is disposing the broken equipment should take extra care so that he does not get hurt or have any cuts or other wounds from the same. This may lead to him contracting the disease too. Extra care should be taken so as to avoid injuries while cleaning and sterilizing the medical equipments that are used in the surgical operations. These instruments include the instruments that either use needle tips or require the attachment of a needle-tip in order to function properly. These instruments may also prove to be great carriers of the blood borne diseases if they come in contact of the blood of the affected. In order to prevent such occurrences where the medical staff may co ntract the disease, the hospital authorities have assured measures whereby the staff are provided with the medications that prevent the staff from contracting diseases that may prove to be fatal in the course of time. The medical staff who are in charge of the cleaning of these instruments must be trained well enough as to how to handle these sharp instruments like the needles and not injure themselves in the process. They should be advised to report any case of injuries that occur due to these injuries. They should be provided with anti-viral medications in advance so as to avoid contracting fatal diseases that may be caused due to the viruses that get transferred through the injuries that involve the sharp objects such as the needles, scalpels and other such instruments that are used in the profession of nursing. The medical staff that are in charge of using these instruments must be careful enough to let the cleaning person know if there are any items that should be disposed with extra precaution. They should always make it a point to mention if there are any sharp instruments that may be the source of a blood borne viral infection which may prove to be fatal in the course of time. In order to evaluate the incident that had been faced by the acquaintance of mine during the needle stick injury I have used the Kolbs cycle of reflection. This model is based on the many activities of reflection that has been undertaken in some professional contexts. The practice of nursing has systems which are well-established. It also involves the processes that encourage the matters of self-reflection. This process involves four different steps that are interconnected with each other. These are the formation of a first-hand experience. This step is followed by the reflection or the reviewing of the first-hand experience. The conclusions and the learnings that have been drawn from the experience follow the reflections of the observer. The learnings that have been acquired during the stage of conceptualization find their implications in this final stage of active experimentation. This step is proceeded by the first step of forming an experience which needs to be reflected on. The theory of the Kolbs reflective cycle is a well-known learning theory that is used majorly in the fields of learning. According to this theory, we get educated over the plethora of experiences that we gain over the everyday incidents that occur through our life. This theory also considers reflection to be an integral part of the process of learning. The first step of the cycle deals with the experiences that we encounter during the course of our life. In this incident of my acquaintance, the experience of the needle stick injury had been a tensing one. The needle had just been used to draw blood from the vein of the patient who was suspected to have been suffering from the dreadful disease of Hepatitis B. The careful sheathing of the needle could have avoided the injury in the first place. She had been ignoring the vaccination for the Hepatitis B. Thus, it is evident that she had been quite tensed when the needle which had just penetrated by the veins of the lady who had come in f or the test for the hepatitis B. In case of the worker who had injured himself while disposing the needle used for drawing blood from the patient who was suspected to have been suffering from the deadly disease of HIV, the injury could have been avoided had the worker paid extra attention to the fact that the needle had been sheathed properly. On looking back at the incident of the needle prick injury of the acquaintance of mine, it may be said that the carelessness on her part that had been responsible for the injury. The injury caused a feeling of trauma in the mind of the nurse as she had not been taking her vaccinations at the proper time and thus, had been vulnerable to contracting the disease very easily. She had to take immediate vaccinations in order to prevent the condition of contracting the disease. The experience had been very traumatic for the collector herself. She had been very tensed until the time that her blood test reports had revealed that she had not contracted the disease. The experience had been an incident that served as a lesson for the other employees in the same department. The other employees were seen to have grown more aware about the vaccinations that they were supposed to have. They started to have their regular health checkups done just in time. This was a highly needed measure that needed to be employed. The cleaning member had been under stress for a longer than usual period after he had come to know of the fact that the needle that had pierced the peripheral vein of the posterior side of his left palm was used to collect the blood sample of a patient who was suspected to have been suffering from the medical condition that was caused by the human immunodeficiency syndrome or HIV. He had been stressed ever since he had come to know of the fact. He had not thought that the accidental injury caused by a needle prick could be serious enough to cause complicated health issues. Thus, he had never reported the injury. He was not educated enough to know of the hazards that might occur due to the needle stick injuries that are seemingly innocent. Thus he underwent a huge amount of stress till the time his pathology results were out. The stress that he had been facing was released only when he tested negative for the disease of HIV (Green Griffiths, 2013). According to Kolb, we are able to create a hypothesis based on the situation or the incident that we have gone through in our lives. In this stage, we conclude on the facts that we have learned from the experiences that have been acquired from the instances that we have gone through. My acquaintance had learned a huge lesson to be more careful in her handling of sharp instruments such as needles that are mostly used in the pathology and emergency departments. She had learned that these needles that were used in the emergency departments should be handled carefully enough to avoid the transmission of the disease-causing agents. According to the Infection Control Nurse, the maximum number of the injuries that have been incurred in the emergency department have been a reason for the concerned staff to get stressed for a long period of time. The staff should be made more aware of the after-effects of the needle-stick injuries. It must also be brought to the limelight that medical equipme nt such as sharps, scalpels and the other various medical instruments that are used in the surgeries should also be handled with care. The cleaning staff must also be made aware of the fact that the needles should be handled with extreme care so as to avoid incidents that involve the contraction of a blood borne disease in the victim. The last stage of the Kolbs reflective model deals with the stage where the hypothesis formed in the previous stage is experimented upon. The experiences that are acquired from these stage help to decide whether or not is the hypothesis acceptable.in the concerned case, the hypothesis refers to the theoretical condition of training the staff regarding the hazards that might have their roots in the needle stick injuries that are seemingly innocent. There may arise situations whereby the delay in the reporting of the injury may result in the medical complications to arise in a patient. These medical conditions may have been avoided if the injury had been treated in a proper way at the proper time. In the concerned case of the acquaintance of mine, she had reported the injury at the first chance to do so thereby it was easier for the nursing staff to detect the presence of the concerned virus that might have gained entry into her blood stream through the needle stick injury that she had incurred. The cleaning staff, on the other hand had no knowledge of the needle that had been used in drawing blood from the lady who had come in to get treated for HIV. The low levels of education of the employee had led him to stress more over the fact that he had contracted the disease. In order to avoid these situations, the concerned staff must be conscious enough to report the slightest of injuries that they have undergone while working with the sharp needles or the other equipment that may result in injuries involving blood loss. The staff at the pathology center should be trained enough to know the hazardous conditions that may result from the seemingly innocent needle stick injuries (Bhardwaj et al., 2014). The staff responsible for the disposal of the used pathological and surgical instruments should receive more training on the conditions that may arise if they get infected from an injury that results in blood loss. They should be asked to report to the concerned authorities as soon as possible regarding the injury if they encounter any. These incidents may be avoided if the nurses and the sample collectors who work with sharp needles are more careful in the use of these instruments. The nurses should not hurry while sheathing a needle or while injecting an intravenous medicine into the system of the patient. They should always be more careful and cautious in the handling of such equipment thereby leading to the reduction of such injuries. They should be vaccinated at regular intervals of time so as to avoid any kind of fatal injuries (Cdc.gov, 2017). The hospital authorities should look into the fact the staff that has been appointed for the job of disposing the instruments that have been used at the pathology center or the at the operation theatre, should be well-trained on the issue of the hazards of the injuries that may be caused due to accidental hurts that are resulted due to the improper handling of these equipments. My feelings in this context do not vary from the one who has experienced the incident of a first-hand basis. I can very well relate to the stress that they face due to the risk of them having contracted the blood borne diseases that may have been present in the patient. In order to avoid these incidents, the hospital authorities should commence a blood borne pathogen control program that fulfils all the requirements of the standard blood borne pathogen indexes (Osha.gov, 2017). The usage of needles should be avoided in conditions where there are effective and safe alternative methods available (Bhargava et al., 2013). The authorities should provide the staff with the needled devices that have certain safety features. The authorities should provide the staff with containers to store the sharps (Rohde et al, 2013). All the cases of the injuries should be investigated thoroughly in order to get to the main cause of the problem thereby attempting to address the cause at the very root levels of it. The authorities should make sure that the concerned medical staff is provided with the necessary medical treatment and evaluated properly on receiving the report of any such incident. The staff who handle these instruments must avoid the use of these wherever they may avail alternate instruments. The staff should avoid bending or recapping the needles that might be contaminated. The employees must look into the fact that the needles are handled safely and got rid of in a safer way in order to avoid the conditions of contracting any fatal disease. The staff must follow the standard precautionary measures, the preventive measures that should be undertaken to avoid the spread of infections and other general practices of general hygiene on a constant basis in order to avoid the hazards of these injuries. In order to gather more information about the hazardous situations that may arise due to these types of injuries, the employee must participate in the training programs that are arranged by the concerned authorities. In conclusion to the above discussion it might be said that the needle stick injuries must be reported at the earliest possible timings in order to reduce the fatality of the disease if contracted by the concerned staff. The nurses and other staff that deal with these instruments must make it a point to help the authorities to select the devices that are safe to be used. The staff must report any cases of injuries that they might be facing while working with the instruments like the needled instruments or other sharp instruments that may enhance the risks of contracting a blood borne disease. An employee should wash the area of injury immediately with soap and water on experiencing a needle stick injury. They are advised to flush the affected area with water. The incident should be reported on an emergency basis and the concerned person should be granted access to immediate medical treatment in order to avoid further complications in the conditions. References Askarian, M., Malekmakan, L., Memish, Z. A., Assadian, O. (2012). Prevalence of needle stick injuries among dental, nursing and midwifery students in Shiraz, Iran.GMS Krankenhaushygiene interdisziplinr,7(1). Bhardwaj, A., Sivapathasundaram, N., Yusof, M. F., Minghat, A. H., Swe, K. M. M., Sinha, N. K. (2014). The Prevalence of Accidental needle Stick Injury and their reporting among healthcare Workers in orthopaedic Wards in General hospital Melaka, Malaysia.Malaysian orthopaedic journal,8(2), 6. Bhargava, A., Mishra, B., Thakur, A., Dogra, V., Loomba, P., Gupta, S. (2013). Assessment of knowledge, attitude and practices among healthcare workers in a tertiary care hospital on needle stick injury.International journal of health care quality assurance,26(6), 549-558. Cdc.gov. (2017).Cdc.gov. Retrieved 9 November 2017, from https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2012-123/pdfs/2012-123.pdf Green, B., Griffiths, E. C. (2013). Psychiatric consequences of needlestick injury.Occupational medicine,63(3), 183-188. Hashmi, A., Al Reesh, S. A., Indah, L. (2012). Prevalence of Needle-stick and Sharps Injuries among Healthcare Workers, Najran, Saudi Arabia.Epidemiology: Open Access,117, 2161-1165. Himmelreich, H., Rabenau, H. F., Rindermann, M., Stephan, C., Bickel, M., Marzi, I., Wicker, S. (2013). The management of needlestick injuries.Deutsches rzteblatt International,110(5), 61. Leigh JP, et al. (2017).Costs of needlestick injuries and subsequent hepatitis and HIV infection. - PubMed - NCBI.Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 9 November 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17655812 Memish, Z. A., Assiri, A. M., Eldalatony, M. M., Hathout, H. M., Alzoman, H., Undaya, M. (2013). Risk analysis of needle stick and sharp object injuries among health care workers in a tertiary care hospital (Saudi Arabia).Journal of epidemiology and global health,3(3), 123-129. Osha.gov. (2017).Osha.gov. Retrieved 9 November 2017, from https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3161.pdf Rohde, K. A., Dupler, A. E., Postma, J., Sanders, A. (2013). Minimizing nurses' risks for needlestick injuries in the hospital setting.Workplace health safety,61(5), 197-202. Seng, M., Lim, J. W., Sng, J., Kong, W. Y., Koh, D. (2013). Incidence of needlestick injuries among medical students after implementation of preventive training.Singapore Med J,54(9), 496-500. Shalmani, H. M., Ranjbar, M., Alizadeh, A. H. M. (2013). Recommendations for prevention and control of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and HCV-related chronic disease.J Liver,3(147), 2167-0889. Who.int. (2017).WHO | Needlestick injuries.Who.int. Retrieved 9 November 2017, from https://www.who.int/occupational_health/topics/needinjuries/en/ Wicker, S., Stirn, A. V., Rabenau, H. F., von Gierke, L., Wutzler, S., Stephan, C. (2014). Needlestick injuries: causes, preventability and psychological impact.Infection,42(3), 549-552.