Quality Improvement Interventions in Reducing Needlestick Injuries

What is it about?

Needlesticks and sharps injuries (NSSIs) are common occupational injuries among healthcare workers (HCWs). They are wounds caused by needles and other sharp medical devices that accidentally pierce or cut the skin and are linked to infection transmission of HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Because of the associated risks, hospitals are keen to do everything necessary to prevent needlestick injuries to their staff. This study is a quality improvement project aimed at reducing needlestick injuries among staff at Nyaho Medical Centre (NMC), Accra.

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Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash

Photo by Diana Polekhina on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Using root cause analysis to investigate the possible cause of needlestick injury and use of the run chart to monitor the implemented improvement strategies (interventions) helped reduce the incidence of needlestick injuries among staff and thereby improved staff safety. The introduction of the incident reporting management systems saw an increase in the culture of incident reporting in general. Other incidents, such as medical errors and patient falls, were being reported using the incident reporting system. The inclusion of infection prevention and control training as part of NMC’s onboarding for new employees helped in the knowledge and awareness creation of needlestick injuries and safety measures to prevent injury from needles and sharps. Policy changes and audits with feedback sharing key performance indicators with frontline team members were identified to have had the most effect.

Perspectives