Sharps like needles, blades and syringes are both very important and very dangerous in terms of medical uses and also some non-medical uses at home (which are more unlikely causes). Even the littlest of these sharps can change one’s life upside down if they become contaminated with infected blood and body fluids. If that sharp causes an injury resulting from accidental skin punctures and lacerations, it is accompanied by risk of infections due to the defilement. They may cause little and not-so-visible wounds and scratches, but their effects are not as little nor as simple as they look like.
It is very threatening to think that with just one wrong move or irresponsible use of sharps, everything can be messed up. This is not some never before seen possibility because in reality, accidents caused by misuse of sharps happen. Usually, they do in hospitals and other medical institutions where sharps are widely, incessantly and necessarily utilized, thus, the people who are highly at risk of sharps injuries are those in the medical field such as nurses, doctors, operating department personnel, laboratory staff and even cleaners and most especially innocent patients.
Sharps injuries usually occur because of unanticipated accidents and honest mistakes. They may happen anytime in the medical area, but that does not mean that such mishaps cannot be avoided. They can! And the first thing to do is know what causes them! What are the usual causes of sharps injuries? What events, habits or actions involved in medical purposes can lead to them?
Certainly, one of the causes that no one has control in is sudden patient movements.
A patient may become hyper or hysterical due to medications. Some might be hard to control and communicate with because of their medical conditions. Others might be too stubborn because they do not want to consume their medicine or food. Some patients are afraid of sharps.
Let’s say a nurse is about to perform an injection to a patient who isn’t in the most normal or comfortable state. In this case, if the patient is one of the previously aforementioned kinds, you can imagine scenarios in your mind that the patient will do one or all these three…
