J U N E 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 9 7
W
hat do you do when your OR team follows sharps
safety rules, yet still gets stuck by suture needles
and sliced by scalpels? That was the frustrating
conundrum facing the administrators at a metro
hospital in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Despite their
best efforts, they saw no obvious patterns related to sharps-related
injuries in terms of who was getting injured and what procedures
were involved.
That was where I came in. As an ergonomist, I brought a different per-
The Ergonomics of Sharps Safety
Pramila Kalaga, MS, CPE | Omaha, Neb.
Small adjustments to posture and positioning in the OR
cut down on injuries from suture needles and scalpels.
• DON'T LET YOUR GUARD DOWN When
you're distracted, it's easy to take your eyes
off a moving suture needle or to put your
hands in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Pamela
Bevelhymer,
RN,
BSN,
CNOR
