Traumatic Injuries in Health Care - Case Study Example

? Traumatic Injuries in Health Care Traumatic injuries in the healthcare are occupational injuries that occur in a hospital or a health facility. There is a growing burden of occupational injuries in healthcare industry with increasing morbidity and mortality resulting from such injuries. The injuries result from lack on the part of health care workers, to follow proper guidelines when working. This includes poor patient handling, poor handling of medical equipments, and working in awkward postures. Others include failure to put on protective gear when performing procedures, negligence, complacence, and inexperience. Others causes include slipping or tripping in an environment full of equipments, tripping and falling, chemical spills, splashes, violence, and accidents at the work place (Emslie et al, 2008). Contaminated sharps can transmit serious infections such as HIV, other viral infections and bacterial infections. Health workers who handle patients without gloves can accidentally prick or cut and infect themselves with serious infections. The same can happen to a health worker without eye goggles that prevent splashes from getting into the eyes. A health worker without protective clothing can get serious chemical burns in case of splashes. Those working in a radiation room without a protective gear can suffer from radiation. Traumatic injuries can be fatal and cause serious complications such as infections, wound sepsis, cancer, pneumonia, organ failure, hypovolemic shock, and hemorrhage. These complications alter the homeostasis of an individual and can lead to death if not properly addressed (Legome, 2011). How epidemiological techniques Mitigate against traumatic injuries Various Occupational Safety and Health epidemiological measures exist, to help mitigate traumatic injuries in a health care facility. These techniques focus on past cases to prevent the occurrence of such cases in the future. Risk assessment forms the basis of setting guidelines that mitigate these injuries. According to Chalupka et al (2008), these techniques form the basis of occupational health in healthcare facilities. They aim at promoting and maintaining physical health, mental health and social health in a hospital setting. They guide the workers and prevent them from risk factors that can predispose them to traumatic injuries. Epidemiological techniques help greatly towards reducing traumatic injuries because they provide regulations and precautions that guide health workers when in a hazardous environment. They provide awareness on the type of hazards in different hospital environments. For example radiation in an x-ray room, needle stick injuries in a laboratory or flebotomy room, eye splashes in a dental room or delivery room. Chemical splashes and spill in a laboratory and cuts from surgical blades in an operation room. Epidemiological techniques also provide awareness on preventive measures to take in case such accidents occur. For example, the use of post-exposure prophylaxis in case of splashes and needle stick injuries. In a scenario where a delivery room doctors and nurses get blood splashes into the eyes then they are supposed to take post-exposure prophylaxis for various infections such as HIV and hepatitis. The same applies to needle stick injuries in the laboratory and the flebotomy rooms (Chalupka et al 2008: 4). Epidemiological techniques usually provide awareness on the importance of medical waste associated hazards and the protective measures to observe when in such environments. The techniques also help in formulating policies and establishing procedures that help in preventing or reducing the risks associated with a working environment. These include provision of training to the hospital staff about safety and response to hazards, vaccination of staff to prevent injury related illnesses such as hepatitis, safe working practices such as wearing of gloves when handling hazardous materials or patients and proper handling and disposal of sharps in sharp containers to prevent needle stick injuries. Such regulations are usually universal and in most hospitals, such information occurs on charts and diagrams, which hang on walls of various working departments, to guide the staff, (Allen, 2010). Risk factors associated with sharp injuries Risk factors for sharp injuries mostly associate with poor practices in various departments in a hospital. These include lack of use of disposal containers for sharps, less working experience on the part of hospital staffs, poor working environment, and emotional exhaustion. Different hospitals departments or units usually have varied risk levels. There is a higher risk of injuries from sharps when working in bleeding rooms, delivery rooms, dental care units, and operative units. Such risks are significantly lower when working in an intensive care unit, obstetric unit, or a psychiatry ward (Chalupka et al, 2008: 22). Sharp injuries are some of the commonest traumatic injuries in hospitals. Sharp injuries include needle stick injuries and cuts from surgical blades and scissors. These injuries cause various risk factors that can cause transmission of serious diseases. Injuries provide potential routes of transmission of various blood borne infections such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Needle stick injuries are the commonest sharp injuries that occur in laboratories, bleeding rooms, delivery rooms and in dental care units. Needles contaminated with viruses’ fungi and bacteria pose a great biological hazard that can transmit such pathogens (Emslie et al, 2008: 31). If not properly handled, sharps can prick health workers such as surgeons, nurses, and phlebotomists. If such a needle had pricked an infected patient, then an automatic transmission will occur. Such injuries occur when the health workers do not follow proper procedures when handling patients, when they do not dispose the needles properly or when they handle the needles without protective gloves. For example, if disposal of such needles is not done in sharp containers, then the likelihood of them pricking people in such environment is high. Needle stick injuries can also result to deep septic wounds that are painful and take long to heal. Cuts from surgical blades can also contribute to transmission of infections. They are common in delivery rooms, dental care units, and operating rooms. Like needle stick, injuries cuts can result to large wounds that if not properly treated can take a long time to heal because of sepsis (Emslie et al, 2008: 32). Containing risk factors associated with sharp injuries To contain risk factors associated with sharp injuries, there is a need to put proper measures in place. These include proper training, formulation of policies that guide safe working practices and use of technology to eliminate such hazards. There is a need for education and effective training for every hospital staff to minimize such risks. New and inexperienced staff is always at a higher risk of such injuries and should get such training. Refresher training is also essential to the older and experienced staff that can treat such risks as normal, develop complacency, and fail to practice safety precautions. Policies that guide safe working practices should be in place to guide day-to-day working routine. This includes wearing of gloves, proper disposal of sharps using sharp containers and vaccination of staff. Lastly, the hospital should adopt modern technology to protect the staff from such injuries. This includes the use of automatic and manual needle retraction devices when bleeding or injecting patients and applying the use of needle-free injection systems (Emslie et al, 2008: 34). In conclusion, traumatic injuries in a hospital usually occur, when hospital staffs do not practice safety precautions. These include poor handling of medical equipments, failure to put on protective gear, negligence, inexperience and complacency. Contaminated sharps can transmit serious infections such as HIV, other viral infections and bacterial infections. Health workers who handle patients without gloves can accidentally prick or cut and infect themselves with serious infections. Epidemiological techniques help greatly towards reducing traumatic injuries, because they provide regulations and precautions that guide health workers. Hazardous Risk factors include lack the use of disposal containers for sharps, less working experience on the part of hospital staffs, poor working environment, and emotional exhaustion. Strategies for containing these factors include proper training, formulation of policies that guide safe working practices and use of technology to eliminate such hazards. References Allen, G.. (2010). Evidence for Practice. Association of Operating Room Nurses. AORN Journal, 92(6), 697-702. Chalupka, S., Markkanen, P., Galligan, C., & Quinn, M.. (2008). Sharps Injuries and Bloodborne Pathogen Exposures in Home Health Care. AAOHN Journal, 56(1), 15-29. Emslie, S., Hancock, C. P., & Healthcare Governance Limited. (2008). Issues in healthcare risk management. Oxford: Healthcare Governance Ltd. Legome, E. (2011). Trauma: A comprehensive emergency medicine approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More