The impact of multifocused interventions on sharps injury rates at an acute-care hospital

OBJECTIVE: To determine the impact of a multifocused interventional program on sharps injury rates. DESIGN: Sharps injury data were collected prospectively over a 9-year perio d (1990-1998). Pre- and postinterventional rates were compared after the im plementation of sharps injury prevention interventions, which consisted of administrative, work-practice, and engineering controls (ie, the introducti on of an anti-needlestick intravenous catheter and a new sharps disposal sy stem). SETTING: Sharps injury data were collected from health- care workers employ ed by a mid-sized, acute-care community hospital. RESULTS: Preinterventional annual sharps injury incidence rates decreased s ignificantly from 82 sharps injuries/1,000 worked full-time-equivalent empl oyees (WFTE) to 24 sharps injuries/1,000 WFTE employees postintervention (P <.0001), rep resenting a 70% decline in incidence rate overall. Over the co urse of the study, the incidence rate for sharps injuries related to intrav enous lines declined by 93%, hollow-bare needlesticks decreased by 75%, and non-hollow-bore injuries decreased by 25%. CONCLUSION: The implementation of a multifocused interventional program led to a significant and sustained decrease in the overall rate of sharps inju ries in hospital-based healthcare workers (infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 19 99;20:806-811).