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Friday, November 18, 2011

Puncture: Movie Brings New Attention to Needlesticks


CDC estimates that about 385,000 sharps-related injuries occur annually among health careworkers in hospitals—and nurses are the most affected healthcare occupation.

In the latest NIOSH Science Blog posting, Thomas Cunningham, Ph.D., and Garrett Burnett, M.S., M.B.A., discuss whether the film, Puncture, will raise awareness about sharps-related injuries. The movie tells the based-on-life story of two Houston lawyers who take on the personal injury case of a nurse who contracts AIDS after an accidental stick—an injury that the case contends would have been prevented by an available safety device.

Read the post here and be sure to check out NIOSH’s Stop Sticks Campaign, a community-based information and education program aimed at raising awareness about the risk of exposure to bloodborne pathogens.