Forchuk Cheryl, Silverman Michael, Rudnick Abraham, Serrato Jonathan, Schmitt Brenna, Scott Leanne
Mental Health Nursing Research Alliance, Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada.
Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Western University, London, ON, Canada.
Front Health Serv. 2023 Apr 6;3:1113163. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2023.1113163. eCollection 2023.
Substance use can occur in the hospital setting among people with substance use disorder, including intravenous use. However, the provision of sharps boxes is not typically offered in Canadian hospitals. This study set out to explore the current issues due to the lack of harm reduction in the hospital setting.
Thirty-one health care professionals participated in virtual one-to-one interviews and focus groups regarding harm reduction in hospital. The issue of sharps box removal was highlighted as a concern. A secondary ethnographic thematic analysis explored this theme in more detail. A scoping review of the literature observed additional considerations.
Sharps box removal was commonplace for people who were known to be, or suspected of, using substances. Sharps boxes only to be used for medical purposes and fears of box tampering were cited as reasons for removal. Health care professionals noted that patients would have to use sharps boxes situated elsewhere. The scoping review revealed that needlestick injuries for hospital staff decreased with greater access to sharps boxes in hospital. Injuries can be addressed through safer disposal practices. Modern designs of sharps boxes and educational initiatives have been found to be successful in sharps disposal compliance and reductions in related injuries.
Ensuring equitable access to sharps boxes would help to reduce unsafe needle discarding which can lead to needlestick injuries for hospital staff and potentially other patients. Education would be a key step in furthering understandings of the importance of sharps boxes and harm reduction as a whole.
物质使用障碍患者在医院环境中可能会出现物质使用情况，包括静脉注射。然而，加拿大医院通常不提供锐器盒。本研究旨在探讨医院环境中因缺乏伤害减少措施而产生的当前问题。
31名医疗保健专业人员参加了关于医院伤害减少的一对一虚拟访谈和焦点小组讨论。锐器盒移除问题被突出为一个关注点。二次人种学主题分析更详细地探讨了这一主题。对文献的范围审查观察到了其他需要考虑的因素。
对于已知或疑似使用物质的人来说，移除锐器盒很常见。仅将锐器盒用于医疗目的以及对盒子被篡改的担忧被列为移除的原因。医疗保健专业人员指出，患者将不得不使用其他地方的锐器盒。范围审查显示，医院工作人员的针刺伤随着在医院更容易获得锐器盒而减少。伤害可以通过更安全的处置做法来解决。已发现现代设计的锐器盒和教育举措在锐器处置合规性和减少相关伤害方面是成功的。
确保公平获得锐器盒将有助于减少不安全的针头丢弃，这可能导致医院工作人员以及其他潜在患者受到针刺伤。教育将是进一步理解锐器盒的重要性以及整体伤害减少的关键一步。
