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Our sharps safety program hit an unexpected bump 2 years ago, when we discovered that disposable sharps were inadvertently being sent to the sterile processing department rather than being disposed of in the sharps container. The scrub nurses weren't always removing the scalpel blades, saw blades, sutures and needles from the tray after each case. Several times, trays with exposed sharps went downstairs to sterile processing, putting the reprocessing staff at greater risk of infection. Unfortunately, a staff member suffered a needlestick. Here's how we tackled this problem.
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