Abstract
I have just discovered an error in “Traumatic Injuries Among Medical Center Employees” (AAOHN journal 36(8):318–325, 1988), which I would like to bring to the attention of the readers of AAOHN journal.
In the Discussion section on page 320 there is mention of a reduction in the reported needlestick injury rate for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and custodians. The needlestick injury rate mentioned for the earlier study (1979–1981) is incorrectly reported. The old rate should be 11.4 per 100 FTE for custodians, not 113.5. Similarly the old rates should be 12.4 per 100 FTE for registered nurses and 5.7 per 100 FTE for licensed practical nurses. We inadvertently misreported our earlier results by a factor of 10.
With the above corrections made, the reported needlestick injury rates increased from 11.4 to 11.6 per 100 FTE (1.8%) for custodians, from 12.4 to 32.7 per 100 FTE (163.7%) for registered nurses, and from 5.7 to 26.5 per 100 FTE (364.9%) for licensed practical nurses. Whether this represents an increase in actual incidents among nurses or a decrease in underreporting of incidents among nurses can not be determined at this time. With all of the efforts being made to control needlestick injuries, one would assume that this is a reporting phenomenon. It does bear further watching, however. We regret the above error.
John S. Neuberger, DrPH
Associate Professor