Mr Peter Deliopoulos1
1PDMedical Pty Ltd, Dandenong South, Australia
Introduction
In the case of the Royal Melbourne Hospital the incidence of sharps injury in the ward was reduced from 74 to 2 incidences per year.
The session will highlight what can be achieved when people of good will, complimentary knowledge and skills come together and work toward a greater goal.
Methods
The case studies involve the Infection Control nurses of St. Vincent’s Private Hospital Melbourne and PDMedical. Firstly the focus was on reducing sharps injuries in the ward. This resulted in the development of the Sharps Caddy and the streamlining of the workflow to reduce the pressures on nurses.
In the second collaboration the focus turned to the safety from sharps injury in the Operating Theatre.
Results
The sharps caddy has reduced the rate of sharps injuries significantly and now used in hospital wards Australia wide.
This session will present the best ways to protect nurses, surgeons and operating theatre staff from sharps injury, the necessary changes to instrument table setup in theatre, scrub nurse to surgeon positioning and the need for transfer devices suited to their use.
Conclusion
Innovating may be the best way to improve the safety in the hospital environment.
Knowing that innovation is not only possible in Australia but it is also practical, infection control nurses may look beyond the current norms in order to provide a safer workplace and save health workers from the trauma of uncertainty and the consequences of infection
Biography:
Peter is the Managing Director of PDMedical Pty Ltd and Chairman of the Australian Biomedical Engineering Innovation Awards (ABEIA). He has served as member of the Board at the Western General Hospital in Melbourne and holds a degree in Civil Engineering from The University of Melbourne.
PDMedical is a Melbourne based medical technology company supplying the health care industry. They develop, manufacture and distribute medical equipment, devices and consumables and provide local support.
Immediately before moving to the medical sector Peter was principal of Kruze Consulting. He comes into the medical sector with a wide range of experience in small, large and multinational companies both locally and abroad across a range of industries including Mining, Petroleum, Engineering/Construction, Telecommunications, Information Technology, Medical and Research & Development.
Peter is passionate about contributing to the health sector and helping those who serve in it and strive to make a difference to peoples’ wellbeing
