Blood Glucose Monitoring Practices - Recent Published Alerts from CDC and FDA
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released alerts in late August and early October in response to an increase in the number of reported outbreaks of hepatitis B transmission associated with blood glucose monitoring. The announcement is intended to inform healthcare providers of the risks associated with using shared blood glucose monitoring equipment and reinforce current recommended practices.
Long-term care facilities, where multiple persons receive assistance with blood glucose monitoring, have been identified as settings in which sharing of reusable lancets is commonly practiced. However, these devices may also be shared in other settings such as hospitals, residential care facilities, clinics, health fairs, shelters, schools, senior centers, detention centers, and camps. Although reusable devices are readily available, they are difficult to clean and disinfect appropriately. Therefore, they should only be used by individuals who perform self-monitoring of blood glucose and be limited only to the use of one person per device.
In summary:
Fingerstick devices should never be used for more than one person.
Auto-disabling single-use devices, also known as disposable lancets, should be used for assisted monitoring of blood glucose levels.
We use the single use safety lancets( purple ones). I have no issue with them. A couple of times we've had these purple and white lancets that the residents didn't feel and it got a good drop of blood.
We were out of safety lancets for a bit and they gave us these little lancets to use. The kind you get at CVS. They hurt the patients and one resident refused her finger sticks if she saw us coming with one of those wretched things.
We had the multiuse lancet once but I didn't like the idea of it. So I found a fresh one and used it for the resident that refused to let us use the CVS lancets
I got tired of using those so I bought a box of one time safety lancets from amazon and I keep it in my car just in case I go into work and they are out of the lancets I like.
I'm pretty sure it's an OSHA requirement that lancets must have be safety-enabled, under the bloodborne pathogen standards. The lancets (like you described from CVS) do not have a protective needle shield and are designed to be used in a single-user lancing device. That's really nice of you to go out and buy your own lancets, but the facility is legally required to furnish the appropriate equipment for patient usage.
Can some one point me in the direction of the EVIDENCE BASED study that says the machine itself is a problem? After all it doesnt touch the patient, (at least doesnt need to) and it would not be possible to spread blood from one patient to another via a properly used machine......
I'm pretty sure it's an OSHA requirement that lancets must have be safety-enabled, under the bloodborne pathogen standards. The lancets (like you described from CVS) do not have a protective needle shield and are designed to be used in a single-user lancing device. That's really nice of you to go out and buy your own lancets, but the facility is legally required to furnish the appropriate equipment for patient usage.
I know that! And I would so much rather pay the $24.99 out of my own pocket and buy my own lancets(same ones that the facility buys), than to use those stupid things. Its all we had and we had to get fingersticks. It did the job but not safely and it was painful for some of the patients.
I know they are legally required but if its a Friday Evening and theres no lancets besides those little stupid ones.. What am I to do??
Specializes in LTC,Hospice/palliative care,acute care.
I personally reuse my lancets, frequently using one for 3-4 sticks. But it is my personal device for my use only. I can't imagine using anything but disposables in a facility.
May I ask-is this an issue with your health care coverage? What exactly does your plan cover -diabetes education,supplies,etc?
Specializes in Critical care, trauma, cardiac, neuro.
We were out of safety lancets for a bit ..........
I got tired of using those so I bought a box of one time safety lancets from amazon and I keep it in my car just in case I go into work and they are out of the lancets I like.
Encourage your facility management to research the fines which OSHA can issue for violations of the BBP rules passed ten years ago. Safety devices are mandatory and the fines may be very hefty. I would love to use the potential disease transmission as motivation, but have found that monetary motivation is more effective.
Specializes in Critical care, trauma, cardiac, neuro.
Can some one point me in the direction of the EVIDENCE BASED study that says the machine itself is a problem? After all it doesnt touch the patient, (at least doesnt need to) and it would not be possible to spread blood from one patient to another via a properly used machine......
Encourage your facility management to research the fines which OSHA can issue for violations of the BBP rules passed ten years ago. Safety devices are mandatory and the fines may be very hefty. I would love to use the potential disease transmission as motivation, but have found that monetary motivation is more effective.
Again, it was a Friday evening. Management is long gone.
Sorry, but if I have to provide my own lancets(same ones that the facility orders). I am going to do so. I'm not using those little needles again. Its not safe for the patients and its not safe for me.
the first one does give some info, but emphasizes the issue with the lancets, the second one i couldn't access, the third one i could access the summary only-and that one was ONLY about the lancets.....The first one said blood was found on the machine, remember in my post i said properly used machines, no blood should be found on a properly used machine.
Specializes in Critical care, trauma, cardiac, neuro.
Morte,
Yeah, but in real life, stuff keeps on happening. That's why the standard. And those silly pathogens are so darn small and difficult to see if there is contamination- so to be on the safe side, well, back to those standards.
country mom
379 Posts
I'm pretty sure it's an OSHA requirement that lancets must have be safety-enabled, under the bloodborne pathogen standards. The lancets (like you described from CVS) do not have a protective needle shield and are designed to be used in a single-user lancing device. That's really nice of you to go out and buy your own lancets, but the facility is legally required to furnish the appropriate equipment for patient usage.