Health Care Worker Safety in Surgery

Nursing is ranked as one of the occupations with the most incidences of workplace-related injury and illness. The six types of injury risk specific to the perioperative environment are biological, ergonomic, chemical, physical, psychosocial, and cultural in nature. Strategies to improve safety include the use of engineering controls to change the work environment, the equipment used, and how the work is done; administrative controls, such as implementing policies and procedures to develop a culture of safety; and behavioral controls that individuals can exercise to reduce the risk of injury. In addition, every perioperative RN is responsible for following safety policies and has the responsibility to identify safety hazards, take appropriate actions, and report the hazards through appropriate channels.