Hi, need to submit a 1500 words paper on the topic Needle Stick Injuries. Now a day the vaccination available is only for Hepatitis B, and no vaccination is available for Hepatitis C or HIV. This is the reason why all healthcare workers are required to have their Hepatitis B vaccination done prior to entering their healthcare professionals.For Hepatitis C, the treatment is available, but no vaccination. The treatment has good results if the disease is diagnosed at a relatively earlier stage. If a person comes with an advanced stage of Hepatitis C, the treatment does not show many good outcomes. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) also does not have any vaccine available, thus this disease is also hazardous if once it occurs. (HSE, 2010).PROCEDURES INVOLVING SHARPS:The needle stick injuries are most common during procedures like drawing a blood sample, giving an intravenous or intramuscular drug, or any other procedure which involves any needle or any other sharp object like hypodermic needles or scalpels etc.Another common exposure is while recapping the used needles. It is now recommended at all medial setups to immediately dispose of the used needles into the approved sharps containers which break the needle and only the plastic container of the syringe is left behind. Although the gloves are used during all the medical procedures, yet the needles or scalpels are sharp enough to pierce the glove and then the skin. (HSE, 2010).STUDY SHOWING THE INCIDENCE OF NEEDLESTICK INJURIES:Recently a study was conducted by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), which collected the data across 150 reporting centers. This study was based on the incidence of occupational exposure to the Blood Borne Viruses (BBV’s) among the healthcare workers. The results of this study showed the needle stick injuries the needle stick injuries to be the most common type of exposure to such viruses. Out of this 63 % were caused by the hollow bore needles. Out of these about 45% occurred among the nursing professionals and 37% among the medial professionals. Only about 2% of cases were reported amongst the ancillary staff, but most of them were those resulting from the inappropriately discarded needles in the garbage bags. (HSE, 2010).
