Healthcare Quality Week is a UTSW/PHHS initiative to discuss improvement strategies and best practices in patient quality and safety, health information technology, patient care delivery, and patient satisfaction. 

The organization strives to be a top performer in protecting our staff in regards to patient care. OSHA implemented a revision to the Needlestick safety and Prevention Act to further reduce health care workers' exposure to bloodborne pathogens by imposing additional requirements upon employers, such as hospitals and ASCs, concerning their sharps procedures. Consistent with the Act, one of the regulations requires employers to solicit employee input with respect to appropriate engineering controls, products, workflows and reporting. 

The panel discussion will discuss accidental needlesticks and brainstorm how to reduce these going forward. Learners are expected to be engaged in discussion surrounding work flows, products, reporting, to ultimately eliminate needlesticks.