Needle stick injuiries among support and ancillary staff in a national Dissertation

Needle stick injuiries among support and ancillary staff in a national hospital - Dissertation Example Despite these injuries being common, they are often under reported and in many places, both health care and non-health care workers are unaware of safety methods to prevent these infections. Globally, needle stick injuries are the most common cause of blood-borne infections among health care workers (Wilburn and Eijekamans, 2004). More than 35 million people worldwide constitute health care work force and they represent 12 percent of the working population in the world (Wilburn and Eijekamans, 2004). It is estimated that people working with them as non-health workers are even more in numbers (NHS, 2008). While health care workers are exposed to several biological hazards including blood-borne pathogens and airborne pathogens directly, non-health workers too are at risk of exposure. In addition to pathogens, both health and non-health workers are also exposed hazardous chemicals like sterilizing agents and disinfectants which increase the risk of development of dermatitis, asthma, car cinogens, reproductive toxins, etc (Wilburn and Eijekamans, 2004). ... ent among healthcare workers, which are a potential source for transmission of various diseases like Hepatitis B and C and human immunodeficiency virus. These injuries are also a potential source of transmission of prion-related diseases. The risk of transmission of hepatitis C with needle stick injuries is 3 percent, for hepatitis B is 30 percent and for HIV is 0.3 percent (Elmiyeh et al, 2004). The transmission from the patient to the healthcare worker through the injury depends on the viral load of the patient and also on the amount of blood that passes from the patient to the healthcare worker. Other infections which are transmissible through needle stick injuries are malaria, syphilis and herpes (Wilburn and Eijekamans, 2004). Management of needle stick injuries should follow state, national and international protocols. From various studies, especially the study by Thomson and Murray (2009), it is evident that only 3 percent of those who suffered from needle stick injuries follo wed any policy, be it either reporting or prevention of disease. The first aid for contaminated sharps injury must be encourage bleeding and washing with soap and water. The type of injury and the status of the patient must be discussed with local public health consultant immediately who will conduct an urgent preliminary risk assessment. In case there is risk of HIV infection, post exposure prophylaxis must be initiated as soon as possible, ideally within one hour. This is estimated to reduce the risk of transmission bu 80 percent. Post exposure prophylaxis must initiated much before the reports of the donor are available. Post exposure prophylaxis is a 28-day treatment with triple combination of antiretroviral drugs. it is associated with significant complications and needs follow up

The management of change in Hampton Roads Sanitation District Essay

The management of change in Hampton Roads Sanitation District - Essay Example Organization Development (OD) is one of the chief concepts that relates to the organizational change management. It can come under definition as â€Å"Organization development is a system-wide application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures, and processes for improving an organization's effectiveness† (Boonstra, 2004). In other words, enterprises implement the process of organization development through proper and careful planning in order to improve and benefit their business processes, functions, employees and other stakeholders (Cummings & Worley, 2008). The process of improvement through organization development can be for either the entire organization and its processes or a smaller portion of the enterprise. This process starts from collecting the information and identification of the problems/concerns in order to create an understanding about the existing state of affairs of the organization. An appropriate solution, strategy, or guiding principle comes under establishment based on the recognized opportunities for change (McLean, 2005). The organizations focus and give emphasis to productivity, profitability, and quality of work since the company’s accomplishments and success lies behind these factors. Due to this reason, organizations are now investing maximally on their employees, as this has become an escalating trend in the contemporary business environment. (Jones  & Brazzel &  NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Science, 2006). Likewise, the attitudes of the employees have also changed as they work to get a feeling of accomplishment and recognition. In the same way, the customers are also demanding quality products or services, fast delivery, competitive prices and other attributes compatible to innovation and complex environment that add the worth of the product. With all these aspects of organization, employees, and the customers, the importance of organization development or an organization has augmented, as the efficient organization wants to meet the current and future challenges in order to s urvive and sustain (Kondalkar, 2009). Several organizations have already experienced and still in the process of undergoing the organization development and change process. Amongst numerous enterprises, Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) is one of the organizations that have undergone the process of organization development. Company Background Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) is an organization with more than 650 employees at the wastewater utility with a huge customer base where the billing system is direct to the customers without involving any third party. HRSD is a regionally based organization in Virginia that supplies to several cities, counties and military facilities in the region of southeast of Virginia. Moreover, HRSD supplies the facility to an area that comes under the population of more than 1.5 million natives. The utility operates on a system with various major and few smaller treatment plants where it treats and transports