SAFETY PRODUCT EVALUATION - 6 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Safety products to prevent percutaneous injuries are rapidly being dev eloped for health care. Decisions to purchase such products are often made by an institution's infection control committee. We evaluated 30 safety products. These products are most readily accepted when potenti al users perceive a need, believe they are at risk for injury, and hav e input into the selection process. Task forces of intended users are invaluable in determining which products to evaluate in high-risk area s. Some new devices may be unsafe if excessive manipulation or in-serv ice education is required. New products may not be well accepted if th e devices are a different size or configuration than usual or require changes in established practices or techniques. An adequate supply of new products must be available immediately when the evaluation begins or users will tend to select the older, more familiar product. Removin g all similar devices except for the new product can facilitate accept ance. Frequency of use can also influence employees when trying a new product. For instance, nurses who only occasionally draw blood have di fferent perceptions of a new blood-drawing device from those of the ph lebotomy team. Key employees were designated as resource persons to co mplement the manufacturer's in-service education and to support transi tion to the new product. We recommend that decision making by infectio n control committees involve the individuals who will eventually direc tly use the new products, starting with the early phases of safety pro duct evaluation.