What devices are contributing to the most

injures and what can be done to prevent them

Michael Boyer

Capstone II

Dr. Punnet

2/10/2015

Broad Goal

The broad goal of this

research is to help create

a safer working

environment for hospital

workers, thus in return

creating a more efficient

environment for the

patient.

Research Question

What devices are

contributing to the most

sharps injures at the

Massachusetts Eye and

Ear Infirmary in Boston

and what can be done to

prevent them?

Data Seto Collected and reviewed by

MEEI• Employee Health & Infection

Control

o Digitized older results and combined results to create master list

o From 2009-2014

Potential Variableso Employment status

o What device was involved

o Mechanism of injury prevention

o Purpose of procedure

IRBo MEEI approval

• Submitted with revisions

o UML deferring• Waiting for written agreement

Study Populationo Cases of employees injured

by sharps or needles at MEE• Look at injury rather than

the injured• Only medical history used will

be looking into follow-up treatment

Retracting: After activation, the needle moves back

into the body of the device.

Sliding Sheath: When activated, a protective cover

comes forward to cover the needle or blade.

Blunting: After activation, there is a piece that extends

beyond the point of the needle.

Hinged cap: When activated, a piece (often plastic)

swings up to the needle and covers it.

1.)Create denominators to assess which

procedures have the highest number of injuries/

highest injury rate, which motion has the most

number of injuries/ rate

2.)Evaluate which tool is the most dangerous

and see if a safer alternative is available

3.)Develop and implement new, safer strategies

when handling potentially dangerous tools

4.)Compare data with that collected by the MDPH

5.)Establish a database for future studies/

reference

Any rate or count of injuries will be evaluated using

statistical analyses of the dataset. Denominators will

be created based on which variables we select

.SPSS will be used to run all analyses.

o Rate/ Count for hospital

o People hours for State comparison

Statistical analysis will help show which tool is the

most dangerous, similar to the first objective.

o See if safer alternatives are available

o Review of current tool models and

safety features will be completed.

To develop and implement safer strategies, old

guidelines must be reviewed and updated to help

protect today’s worker

o Brainstorm with hospital- Sharps Committee

o Track ordering , if possible, over span of study

Data will then be compared with information

collected by the Mass. Dept. of Public Health

o Aggregate data

One central database will be created and

backed-up to ensure that future studies

can reference it.