Injection Safety Procedure

Injection is one of common route drug administration that must be carefully practiced to lessen injection related side effect because of misuse or overuse of it. Health care workers should ensure themselves and patients that substance given by injection is useful for improving patients’ health condition and doesn’t cause life risky side effect. Practice related to injection before, during and after injection need to be handled based on safety procedure. While doing that, injection-related side effects must be prevented, be monitored and be treated well--if they occur--in order to prevent further complication that will worsen patient health status. Moreover, doing safe injection practice will also benefit health care workers since it prevents blood-borne pathogens transmission.

Injection is an infusion method of putting ­­liquid into the­­ body, usually with a hollow needle and a syringe which is pierced through the skin to a sufficient depth for the material to be forced into the body that must be used sensibly not only to promote the patient’ benefit but also to prevent injection giver injury. Since it is manual and invasive, the practice depends on health care team and needs special skill. Misuse and overuse of injection may occur. Misuse of injection occurs when injection doesn’t follow safety procedure such as sharing the same syringes with different persons or reusing syringes to inject different drugs. Injection is overused if unnecessary injection is done when oral formula may still be used.

Steps of doing safety injection procedures include preparation before the injection, execution during the injection and evaluation after the injection. First, equipments and drugs should be provided for related patient. They include syringe, needle, gloves, torniquet, alcohol swab and dry cloth. Make sure that the equipments are sterile. Tell patient about procedure that will be done and ask for patient’s approval. Second, injection techniques must suit patient’s condition and be done by right procedure. There are 4 techniques, subcutaneus injection, hypodermic injection, muscular injection and intraveinous injection and each technique mustn't subtitute other technique without competent doctor supervision. Third, all medical sewage must be disposed in appropriate place. There are containers for disposal of syringes and sharps. Then, monitoring patient’s condition is important. Look for any signs of injection related side effect and tell the patient to beware of symptoms that may occur following the injection. If necessary, laboratory check should be done to see asymptomatic effect. Consult medical health team when side effect occurs since rapid and well treatment must be held to guard against complication whether it can be devastating or fatal.

Doing these will ensure not only patients’ safety but also health workers’ safety. Since chronic diseases as hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus and HIV transmit by blood, safety procedure that prevent patients’ blood contact to health workers will limit the transmission. In general, injection safety procedure is a must to prevent unwanted events for patients and health worker team.
By. James (Dwi Notosusanto)