And it is painful to the patient. According to Owens, proper education on how to use mechanical devices is the key to getting nurses to use them. Abuse first must be reported before it can be stopped. We have to put a price on our lives and our health care. The acceptance by many nurses that this is par for the course has to be changed.
Verbal abuse is even more prevalent.
Nurses should be assertive and find out if trained security personnel are on duty in their facility, and health care facilities need to make critical changes on behalf of nurses. Six years ago, Jagger created a database to track exposures and sharps injuries so future exposures can be prevented. However, exposures are grossly under-reported. One nurse who suffered a devastating needlestick injury told her story at the conference. Lynda Arnold, RN, was infected with HIV following a needlestick while working as a nurse in a small community hospital in Lancaster, PA, in 1992.