OSE_1212_part3_Layout 1 12/5/12 9:34 AM Page 132
THINKING OF BUYING ...
Beverly Kirchner, RN, BSN, CNOR, CASC
Safety Sharps
A system for selecting safety devices that your surgeons will use.
hen the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
W
announced plans last year to survey ambulatory surgical
centers for their compliance with the federal
Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act, I decided that the centers I
led should be proactive instead of reactive. This meant gaining —
and acting upon — a clear understanding of what OSHA required,
instead of waiting for the possibility of a surveyor at the door and
then correcting the shortcomings she discovered.
In order to succeed, this effort was going to require staff participation. After reviewing the rules (see "Federal Requirements for
Sharps Safety" on page 70) and conferring with our quality assessment and performance improvement committee, I appointed a
group of non-managerial employees to select the safety engineered
devices we'd be adopting.
The sharps safety committee began its task of reviewing and selecting devices that
• reduced the risk of injuries;
• met end-users' needs; and
• didn't jeopardize patient or provider safety.
We evaluated what we were and weren't using. An accounting of the
safety sharps in use at our facilities in light of the wealth of options on
the market — scalpels, blunt suture needles, safety syringes, shielded
2
O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | D E C E M B E R 2012
