the same for the whole decade. Why? It could be that they focus on
sharps safety from the outset of their training, and receive reinforce-
ment throughout their careers. In the OR, handling sharps is the
bulk of what they do, every single day.
We hypothesized their injury rate was so low because they're very
familiar with proper sharps handling practices, and they reinforce
those skills daily while learning to screen multiple requests and
ignore distractions more effectively.
Close the threat window
If you're still having too many sharps injuries — even though you've
educated and trained your staff, and given them safer products to use
— my advice is to take a fresh look and focus on distractions in your
ORs and minimize interruptions when possible during wound closure.
We found that reducing sharps injuries isn't just about training, com-
prehension, understanding, awareness and skill-building. It's also
about familiarity with the OR environment and helping people pay
attention to what they need to do in the moment, while screening out
irrelevant noise of many types. Ultimately, it's about mindfulness.
OSM
7 6 • O U T P A T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U N E 2 0 2 0
Dr. DiTullio (bditulli@bidmc.harvard.edu) is senior clinical operations liaison
of perioperative services at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.