Campaign to Engage 100,000 Healthcare Personnel Behind Needlestick Injury Prevention

Every day, 5.6 million healthcare personnel in the U.S. are put at risk of occupational exposure to HIV, hepatitis C and other life-threatening blood-borne diseases via transmission modes such as needlestick injuries.

Safe in Common, a non-profit organization of healthcare safety advocates is launching a nationwide campaign to unite 100,000 U.S. healthcare personnel who believe current Federal standards for needlestick prevention to be largely inadequate, and that safer devices and other measures are needed to maximize protection to those at risk of harm.

Dr. Mary Foley, Chairperson of Safe in Common, notes, As president of the American Nursing Association during the adoption of the federal Needlestick Prevention Act in 2000, I was honored to have helped our industry take a vital first step towards protecting healthcare personnel at risk of injury. But we must now come together again to help finish the job. I firmly believe that every needlestick injury is preventable with the right equipment, the right procedures and the right culture. I encourage all U.S. healthcare personnel to join me in the signing of the Safe in Common Pledge.

Each year, nurses, physicians and other healthcare workers suffer an estimated 800,000 accidental needlestick injuries in U. S. hospitals. More than 1,000 of them become infected with HIV/AIDS or hepatitis B and C and other deadly blood-borne diseases

Safe in Common is a non-profit organization established to enhance and save the lives of U.S. healthcare personnel at risk of harm from needlestick injuries.  It is led by Chairperson Mary Foley, PhD, RN, former president of the American Nursing Association and a U.S. leader for needlestick prevention, Healthcare Safety Advocate Nancy Purcell-Holmes, RN, and other industry leaders.