 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Angela K. Laramie, MPH and Letitia Davis, ScD. Occupational Health Surveillance Program, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 250 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108, 617-624-5625, angela.laramie@state.ma.us
While some data are available to characterize the nature and extent of sharps injuries among healthcare workers nationwide, little information is available to describe sharps injury experience of health care workers at the state level. Massachusetts is one of several states that have recently passed regulations requiring hospitals to report information about sharps injuries among hospital workers. The Massachusetts regulations require hospitals to report information on each sharps incident, including name and brand of the device involved, to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on an annual basis. In this presentation, the Massachusetts Sharps Injury Surveillance system, including required data elements, steps taken to implement the reporting requirements and reporting mechanisms will be described. Findings based on sharps injury data provided by hospitals for the last quarter of 2001 will be presented and barriers to collecting the required data elements will be addressed. The utility of the data in informing the selection of improved sharps devices and the development of sharps injury prevention program at the state and facility level will be discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Surveillance, Health Care Workers
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employment