Unsafe Injection Practices Persist Despite Education Efforts

[Guest guest]

CDC 05-09-11

UNITED STATES: " Unsafe Injection Practices Persist Despite Education Efforts "

Wall Street Journal (04.26.11):: Landro

An online survey of US health care providers finds some reporting syringe and

needle reuse, putting patients at risk for blood-borne diseases such as HIV and

hepatitis B and C. The May-June 2010 poll of 5,446 eligible respondents,

conducted by the health care purchasing alliance Premier Inc., included

personnel from hospitals (66 percent) and non-hospital settings (34 percent).

Unsafe practices identified included 6 percent reporting “sometimes or always”

using single-dose/single-use medication vials for more than one patient; 0.9

percent “sometimes or always” reusing a syringe while changing only the needle

for use on another patient; and 15.1 percent reusing a syringe to enter a

multidose vial and then 6.5 percent saving that vial for use on another patient

(1.1 percent overall). Cost-savings was most commonly cited as a motive.

Syringe and needle reuse is a problem involving a “small but disturbing

percentage of clinicians in various health care settings,” said Pugliese,

vice president of the Premier Safety Institute.

Pugliese cited “lack of awareness and mistaken beliefs” behind some of the risky

practices. Some providers may wrongly assume contamination only affects the

needle but not the syringe, she said, or that syringe reuse with IV tubes is

unproblematic. Misapprehensions also include the reuse of a single-dose vial, if

it contains leftover medication, on more than one patient, she noted.

A CDC study of 68 US ambulatory surgical centers in three states found

infection-control lapses were common. It cited in particular the use of

single-dose medication vials for more than one patient; nonadherence to

equipment-reprocessing recommendations; and mishandling of blood glucose

monitoring equipment.

On April 26, Premier and the Safe Practices Coalition sponsored a daylong

industry meeting in Washington to raise awareness about preventing unsafe

injection practices. CDC injection-safety guidelines can be found by visiting:

http://www.cdc.gov/injectionsafety/unsafePractices.html.

[Guest guest]

CDC 05-09-11

UNITED STATES: " Unsafe Injection Practices Persist Despite Education Efforts "

Wall Street Journal (04.26.11):: Landro

An online survey of US health care providers finds some reporting syringe and

needle reuse, putting patients at risk for blood-borne diseases such as HIV and

hepatitis B and C. The May-June 2010 poll of 5,446 eligible respondents,

conducted by the health care purchasing alliance Premier Inc., included

personnel from hospitals (66 percent) and non-hospital settings (34 percent).

Unsafe practices identified included 6 percent reporting “sometimes or always”

using single-dose/single-use medication vials for more than one patient; 0.9

percent “sometimes or always” reusing a syringe while changing only the needle

for use on another patient; and 15.1 percent reusing a syringe to enter a

multidose vial and then 6.5 percent saving that vial for use on another patient

(1.1 percent overall). Cost-savings was most commonly cited as a motive.

Syringe and needle reuse is a problem involving a “small but disturbing

percentage of clinicians in various health care settings,” said Pugliese,

vice president of the Premier Safety Institute.

Pugliese cited “lack of awareness and mistaken beliefs” behind some of the risky

practices. Some providers may wrongly assume contamination only affects the

needle but not the syringe, she said, or that syringe reuse with IV tubes is

unproblematic. Misapprehensions also include the reuse of a single-dose vial, if

it contains leftover medication, on more than one patient, she noted.

A CDC study of 68 US ambulatory surgical centers in three states found

infection-control lapses were common. It cited in particular the use of

single-dose medication vials for more than one patient; nonadherence to

equipment-reprocessing recommendations; and mishandling of blood glucose

monitoring equipment.

On April 26, Premier and the Safe Practices Coalition sponsored a daylong

industry meeting in Washington to raise awareness about preventing unsafe

injection practices. CDC injection-safety guidelines can be found by visiting:

http://www.cdc.gov/injectionsafety/unsafePractices.html.