FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 18, 2001

CONTACT:
Hope Hall, 202-651-7027
Cindy Price, 202-651-7038
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WASHINGTON, DC – A federal measure takes effect today that will potentially save the lives of thousands of nurses and other front-line health care workers each year by protecting them from dangerous needlestick injuries, according to the American Nurses Association (ANA).

"Registered nurses no longer will be forced to play Russian roulette with their lives each time they come to work," said ANA President Mary Foley, MS, RN. "This law requires health care facilities to do the right thing by having in place safer needle devices to protect nurses and other health care workers from accidentally getting stuck by contaminated needles."

Every year, approximately 600,000 to 800,000 registered nurses and other health care workers accidentally get stuck by a needle or some other sharp medical device that exposes them to potentially lethal organisms carried in the blood, such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C.

ANA fought long and hard to stop these senseless and preventable injuries, and scored a victory when Congress passed the "Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act" in October 2000, which was then signed into law the following month.

"The law taking effect today is a victory for both nurses and patients," Foley said. "It stands to reason that if you keep nurses healthy, they will be ready and able to be at patients' bedsides, giving them the care they need."

Foley also stated that the measure gives nurses more of a say in their workplace by requiring facilities to seek their input when selecting and evaluating safer devices, like needles that automatically retract after being used. Further, this measure potentially can help ease the current nursing shortage, given that many nurses leave the profession because of workplace conditions that threaten their health and safety.

The "Needlestick Safety and Prevention Act" amends the existing Bloodborne Pathogen Standard administered by OSHA. The law also will help identify safer devices by requiring employers to maintain a sharps injury log to contain, at a minimum, the type and brand of device involved in an incident, the department or work area where the exposure occurred, and an explanation of how the incident occurred.

More information on needlestick prevention is available on ANA’s web page at www.needlestick.org.

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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's nearly 2.7 million Registered Nurses through its 54 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.

2001 press releases

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