Safe Injection Practices

A medical facility that specialized in treating knee pain, in Wall, New Jersey voluntarily closed its doors in March 2017 after at least 30 patients developed infections. The cause of the infections was improperly handled injections. Don’t let this happen to you! Follow safe injection practices to avoid patient infection. For the full story, follow this link: http://abc7ny.com/news/nj-knee-plain-clinic-closes-after-injections-lead-to-infection/1809023/

You may, after reading this, be thinking, “That will never happen to us. Our practice has procedures in place to prevent that. Frankly, we think that’s great! But the reality is that, incidents like this, while rare, are not out of the realm of possibility. It could happen to you! Fortunately, there are things you can do to prevent disaster.  The best defense in the Infection Control arena is a good offense. The most effective tool for healthcare workers is continuous education and review.

Protect your patients, yourself and your business. Always adhere to these four basic standards of care from the CDC:

1. Follow proper infection control practices and maintain aseptic technique during the preparation and administration of injected medications.
2. Never reuse syringes for more than one patient, even if the needle is changed, and never enter a medication vial with a used syringe or needle.
3. Always use face masks when injecting material or inserting a catheter into the epidural or subdural space.
4. Do not use medications packaged as single-dose or single-use for more than one patient.