Case Studies
Case Study #1:
Nurse Obari is assisting on a local mini laparotomy for tubal ligation. She places the scalpel in a kidney basin, when Dr. Bua, the surgeon, asks for the knife, she hands him the basin. He asks, "What is this?"
How should nurse Obari respond?
Case Study #2:
While suturing the peritoneum, Dr. Hemley punctures her finger with a contaminated suture needle. She drops the needle holder with suture needle on the sterile field and asks the circulator to remove his gloves. The wound is not bleeding much so, she "milks" the punctured finger. The circulator pours Betadine over the site and the scrub nurse helps the surgeon reglove and removes the needleholder from the field. Surgery resumes.
Is this appropriate management of needle stick injuries? Why?
Case Study #3:
Capital Hospital has its own laundry department. Following surgical procedures, the dirty linen is tied into bundles and sent down a chute to the laundry area. Once there, the bundles are untied and sorted by the laundry staff. Sometimes sharp items such as a suture needle or a syringe needle are found, and sometimes, even though the laundry workers wear utility gloves, they still get puncture wounds.
How should the laundry department manager handle this situation?
Case Study #4:
Your clinic has a special container for disposing of sharps. The container is located in the vaccination room, since that is where most injections are usually given. Occasionally, clients need to be given injections in the treatment room, which is down the hall from the vaccination room. When this occurs, the nurses recap the hypodermic needles, carry them down the hall to the vaccination room, and dispose of them in the sharps-disposal container.
What should be done differently to reduce the risk of infections at your clinic?
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