Injecting medicines is a common part of what healthcare providers do every day. However, safe injection practices require complex skills and competencies. Even simple slip-ups or misunderstandings may lead to serious patient harm, including exposure to infectious pathogens. Harm related to unsafe injection practices is preventable.

What You Can Do to Protect Oregon Patients

• Check out the Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) Injection and Needle Safety Toolkit, which provides resources for patients and providers, such as guidelines, recommendations, and specialty-specific information encompassing diverse practice settings and care types. OHA wants to hear from you! Provide feedback to OHA by completing an evaluation to help then keep improving the toolkit.

• Become a member of Oregon’s One and Only Campaign, a public health campaign led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC), to receive brief but important updates about safe injection practices and needle use in Oregon and nationwide. OHA will share helpful resources including educational materials, guidance and recommendations, and other news to help you protect patient safety in Oregon and beyond. Email OHA directly to join.

• If you provide health-related services in Jackson County, you may have received a letter from the Oregon Health Authority regarding a 15-minute survey to gather information about needle use and injection practices. Complete the survey to help OHA develop educational activities around these topics.

• Follow Oregon AWARE on Facebook to get regular updates on injection and needle safety and antimicrobial stewardship.