and instead got stuck
by a used needle that
was supposed to be
in the nearby sharps
bin. Careless mistake,
but not hers.
"It happens so fast.
I looked and saw the
needle sticking in my
finger coming out of
my glove," says Ms.
Crnkovich. "No one
was there to relieve
me. I had to stay in
there contaminated. When the case was done, I squeezed my finger
and washed for 5 minutes and then scrubbed with betadine and
alcohol. I had to go to employee health and get blood drawn to see
if [the needle] was clean or contaminated."
It was clean, thankfully, but like they teach you at defensive
driving, "you can't assume a surgical tech with 12 years' experi-
ence knows that it's not safe to load a blade with your hands."
Toni Acello, RN, MSN, NEA-BC, director of nursing for periopera-
tive services at Bryn Mawr (Pa.) Hospital, recalls the knife blade
that cut the tendon on the surgical tech's index finger. "He wasn't
expecting it because the surgeon didn't announce 'blade back' and
the tech was standing there with his hands out." The tech was out
of work a couple months and required surgery to repair the torn
tendon.
5. Sharps safety devices aren't always safe.
Injuries
5 2 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 0
• NEUTRAL ZONE Creating a hands-free area helps reduce injuries that occur by
eliminating hand-to-hand sharps passing. OR team members place and retrieve
sharp instruments on a brightly colored towel or tray.
