Sharps Incident/Blood-Borne Pathogen Exposure Quick Guide

  1. Create an Appointment. Code should be EXP in most cases. Although not all exposure incidents will turn out to be exposures, the appointment is for an exposure-type of event—using this code makes it possible to determine how many such events are handled. Optionally set up a different code, or use WCI (Workers’ Comp Initial).
  2. Add new Injury. Type should be EXP initially, unless the patient clearly states that it was a clean needle or similar incident with no chance of body fluid exposure, in which case the Type is NON.
  3. Choose procedure for Blood-Borne Pathogen Exposure, unless the patient makes it clear it was a non-exposure event, in which case choose the Non-Exposure procedure.
  4. For either procedure:
    1. Wound care
    2. Evaluate method of injury
    3. Tetanus Immunization
  5. For an Exposure, add the following tasks to those above:
    1. Evaluate source status, if known
    2. HIV counseling
    3. Hepatitis B, C, and A antibody
    4. HIV lab test
    5. Evaluate for prophylactic medication
  6. When the patient arrives, obtain the medical history.
  7. From the Injury Folder, add an exposure/sharps record. If the incident was a splash, complete the exposure record to the degree possible.
  8. From the Inj/Ill Visit screen, press Progress Notes button to complete the medical chart.
  9. Verify orders for visit. Delete orders that are not appropriate, add orders for services that evaluation determines are needed.
  10. Finish completing the Inj/Ill Visit screen as applicable. The State Form screen in the Injury Folder also has useful fields.
  11. If the injury was an exposure, go to the Injury screen and verify that the Type is EXP. If the injury was not an exposure, change the Type to NON. This code is very important for reporting purposes.
  12. Print the Sharps Log report periodically to assist with exposures reporting regulations.