38 - "Got Stuck? Sharpen Focus on Needlestick Injuries in the Operating Room"

Description:

Background:
In 2022, hospital safety reports identified an increase in needlestick injuries among operating room (OR) staff, predominantly among surgical residents. Baseline data showed an average of five injuries per month among physicians, with Orthopedics (1) and Plastic Surgery (2) service lines most affected. An estimated 385,000 needlestick injuries annually among hospital-based healthcare workers, with nearly half unreported (Centers for Disease Control, 2024). Addressing this issue is critical as needlestick injuries pose risks of bloodborne pathogen transmission, impact healthcare workers' safety and mental well-being and impose financial burdens from treatment and liability.

Methods:
This prospective quality-improvement (QI) project implemented a "Pause for Safety" for all Plastic Surgery cases during which surgical residents would be prompted to pause, re-focus, and reduce unnecessary distractions prior to the first count of the case. If an injury occurred, a safety post was entered via safety reporting system. Paper audits were collected in two trials beginning in January 2024 and ending in June 2024 to ensure the safety moment was done and to cross-check if any needlestick injuries occurred that weren't reported.

Results:
During the intervention period in the first six months of 2024 compared, there was a 54% reduction in needlestick injuries across all service lines and a 100% decrease among Plastic Surgery service line, our focus group, compared to the same period in 2023. In gross numbers, this represents 59 less needlesticks.

Conclusions:
The Safety Pause significantly reduced needlestick injuries among our intervention group and saved money for the organization, showing the power of small interventions to have a big impact. Replicating the Safety Pause in other organizations will require tailoring the timing of the Safety Pause to the workflow of each surgical service line.