Media reports of outbreaks and infections caused by unsafe injection practices in healthcare facilities – especially in outpatient settings – seem to confirm the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics that since 1999, more than 125,000 U.S. patients have received letters alerting them of potential exposure to infection with hepatitis viruses or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to unsafe injection practices such as the reuse of syringes.
And in a little more than a decade, the lack of adherence to safe injection practices by healthcare professionals has resulted in more than 30 outbreaks of viral hepatitis and other healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) in the U.S. For example, a patient notification resulting from unsafe injection practices at an endoscopy clinic in Las Vegas in 2008 required health officials to alert more than 50,000 patients who had been potentially exposed to bloodborne pathogens. This patient notification, response and testing is estimated to have cost between $16 million and $21 million.
To address these alarming trends, the CDC and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC) has launched the "One & Only Campaign," a public health initiative to help raise awareness among patients and healthcare providers about safe injection practices, and to eradicate outbreaks resulting from unsafe practices, including reusing single-use medical devices. According to organizers, the goal of the One & Only Campaign is to ensure patients are protected every time they receive a medical injection, and that this can be attained by empowering patients and re-educating healthcare professionals about safe injection practices. Creating and strengthening a culture of patient safety is critical, and campaign organizers emphasize that focus on the message behind the slogan, "One Needle, One Syringe, Only One Time" can be an important driver for proper clinical behavior during injections.
The campaign is currently being piloted in Nevada and New York, states that have experienced significant outbreaks linked to unsafe injection practices in recent years. Upon completion of these state pilot campaigns, the One & Only Campaign will expand to additional states and eventually nationwide, according to organizers. This effort is complimented by the launch of a new educational video from the SIPC for healthcare providers that imparts a 10-minute lesson on safe injection practices.
The video targets the educational needs of individuals who regularly administer or supervise injections; it addresses their responsibility to protect patients from HAIs and promotes evidence-based, common-sense safe injection practices from the CDC. The video demonstrates situations where injections are administered, and also dispels common misperceptions, such as the belief that it is safe to administer medication from single-dose vials to multiple patients. "One infection due to unsafe injection practices is unacceptable," says Michael Bell, MD, deputy director for infection control at CDC and narrator of the video. "Every healthcare provider has the responsibility to ensure that all injections given to patients are safe, and we hope that this video will help make that happen."
