What goes Unreported goes Unfixed:

Breaking the cycle of jeopardy to enable a systematic approach to sharps safety

This presentation covers why nurses don’t report injuries, identifying individual & organisation factors. We review the consequences of not reporting an injury to affected nurses, colleagues & patients. We share how perioperative teams can increase reporting to improve safety climates. In a supportive safety climate, where all are comfortable to report injuries, safety concerns will cease to go unnoticed & unfixed.
CPD HOURS: 1
 Registration Year 2024-2025

Course Content

Perioperative nurses ensure that patients receive safe & reliable care, often at the expense of their safety. Systematic underreporting of injuries continues to occur, despite OSHA requirements.

The Joint Commission confirmed the need for hospitals to pay attention to safety reporting, noting that a lack of response to identified warnings could have prevented harm events.
This presentation covers why nurses don’t report injuries, identifying individual & organisation factors. We review the consequences of not reporting an injury to affected nurses, colleagues & patients. We share how perioperative teams can increase reporting to improve safety climates.
In a supportive safety climate, where all are comfortable to report injuries, safety concerns will cease to go unnoticed & unfixed

Why this session may be relevant to your work

Safety in the perioperative environment is crucial not only for patients but also for staff. It's every clinician's responsibility to work towards a safe environment, and routine education on safety issues is important to create one and ensure safety concerns are addressed quickly.

Learning Outcomes

In this session you will:
  • Reflect on perceptions of the risk of occupational injury and experiences with hospital reporting injury processes, compared to national statistics within healthcare and other industries
  • Identify three individual factors and four organisational factors which impact whether perioperative nurses will report
  • Describe the consequences that not reporting an injury can have on the affected perioperative nurse, fellow perioperative team, and patient
  • Discuss at least five specific measures that nurses and organisations can take to prevent underreporting of occupational injuries to improve staff and patient safety

Dr Shreya Singh

Phd, MA, BA
Dr Shreya Singh has a PhD from the University of Queensland, and has Masters degrees from the University of Warwick and the University of Delhi.
She has extensive experience in teaching and interdisciplinary research, working with diverse stakeholders to achieve positive organisational change.