HONOReform is a proud member of the Safe Injection Practices Coalition. Led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the SIPC developed and distributes the award-winning One and Only Campaign materials (“One Needle, One Syringe, Only One Time”). The One & Only Campaign is a public health campaign to raise awareness among patients and healthcare providers about safe injection practices. There are many, many resources designed for healthcare providers – posters, videos, brochures, checklists, continuing education opportunities and guidance for infection prevention specific to injection safety. There are resources tailored for specific situations such as dentistry and diabetes care.
While we applaud the efforts of our colleagues and stand beside them, we also must note that materials designed for patients seem, at this stage, inadequate. Currently, this is the core document developed by SIPC to be used specifically for outreach to patients: Patient Brochure. Read more
Making Lemonade: One CRNA’s Story of Addiction and Recovery
Anita Bertrand, CRNA, was the featured speaker at this year’s AANA annual meeting
In healthcare, it’s all about saving lives, right? But what happens when it’s about saving the lives of those who are usually the ones caring for the patients? In the case of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, it is truly about saving lives as well as caring for their peers. Thanks to their health and wellness series, they are bringing awareness through education as well as teaching their members to look past themselves while gaining a better care for all. Thanks to their peer assistance program, it is much easier for nurse anesthetists to help one another. Read more
HONOReform is the only national advocay organization dedicated to protecting patients through safeguarding the medical injection process.
Once a year, we take some time from our daily work to reflect on what we accomplished throughout the year and set s ome goals for the upcoming year. We are so grateful to you, our fellow advocates, for your steadfast support of injection safety. Below is HONOReform’s End of Year Report, 2014.
Our Mission and Vision
HONOReform is the only national advocacy organization dedicated to protecting patients through safeguarding the medical injection process “from manufacturing to disposal.” Our vision is a nation in which health care providers always follow fundamental injection safety practices that are designed to protect all patients each nd every time they receive an injection.
HONOReform International Debut
HONOReform representatives, including Evelyn and Tom McKnight, traveled to India in September. Our aim was to visit cities and villages and observe healthcare delivery. We visited hospitals and clinics, and we had the opportunity to meet with local patient advocates. Along with our industry partners, we presented to public health leaders, national government officials and a representative of the World Health Organization. Our goal going forward is to help form an injection safety coalition in India.
Presentations and Media
Led by co-founder and president Evelyn McKnight, who continues to present her story on the ongoing need to always use safe injection practices, HONOReform presented at 30 events attended by nearly 3500 people. HONOReform was featured in national media over 25 times in 2014, and we helped lead the much-quoted April 17 USA Today article titled “Doctors, medical staff put patients at risk.”
Updated HONOReform website
Evelyn and HONOReform are active on social media, particularly twitter (#HONOReform). On our streamlined website, click on “JOIN THE CONVERSATION” to receive up-to-the-minute information from HONOReform (on Twitter and Facebook). Also, be sure to check out and subscribe to the HONOReform blog, “Survivor Stories,” edited by Evelyn and Lauren Lollini. To submit an idea for our blog or an article, contact Steve Langan at 402.659.6343 or steve@www.HONOReform.org.
HONOResponse
Sadly, some healthcare providers in the United States continue to reuse and misuse medical equipment, including syringes. Additional focus areas this year included reuse and misuse of single- and multi-dose vials of medication and responding to increasing reports of drug diversion among healthcare workers. Through the HONOResponse program, active in five states in 2014, HONOReform is poised to help patients and communities immediately following a patient notification or confirmed outbreak.
The SIPC and the Campaign
HONOReform is a proud member of the Safe Injection Practices Coalition (SIPC), which provides support for the One and Only Campaign (OneandOnlyCampaign.org). The SIPC continues to develop and distribute new materials, and we continue to raise awareness among healthcare providers and patients about the absolute need for safe injection practices. In 2014, HONOReform discussed with SIPC colleagues a need to emphasize and extend the patient voice. As always, please contact HONOReform and allow us to help you access the materials that will be most useful to you and your institution—if you are a healthcare worker—or your family—if you are a patient.
Support for State Legislation
HONOReform is particularly proud of our many partners in New Hampshire, who pushed for the landmark “Medical Technician Registry” and “Drug Free Workplace” bills, which were signed in to law in June. HONOReform was also active in working toward legislation in North Dakota—where an injection safety proclamation was established. HONOReform is dedicated to advocating for injection safety legislation at the state level.
Our Academic Partners
HONOReform appreciated the many opportunities this year to meet, in person and online, with students from local and area universities and colleges, as they studied the consequences of unsafe injections. We welcome the opportunity to share the HONOReform story and highlight the need to always emphasize injection safety. Our academic partners include University of Nebraska-Omaha, Midland University, Methodist Nursing College, the College of St Mary, St. Louis University and Southeast Community College—among others.
HONOReform Year End Appeal
We are grateful to our many donors for the ongoing support of our mission. Contributions to our annual appeal for donations, response to a request from founder Evelyn McKnight, were especially helpful. Contributions to HONOReform come in a variety of forms. Thank you for helping us to continue to safeguard the medical injection process in the United States.
Our Goals for 2015
We have designated 2015 the HONOReform “Year of Community.” We encourage HONOReform patient advocates and family advocates, our many partner organizations, and the extended national injection safety network to join us. We encourage you to join HONOReform social media and help us extend the conversation and our reach!
Methodist Mondays: A Debut, from Nursing Student Matthew Sobczyk
Matthew Sobczyk is a nursing student at Nebraska Methodist College and posts the first ‘Methodist Mondays’ blog.
At Nebraska Methodist College, the book A Never Event (McKnight & Bennington, 2010) is required reading at the junior level of the BSN nursing program. This past semester, Evelyn McKnight and Steve Langan visited the nursing classroom with a question and answer session regarding A Never Event and HONOReform. “Survivor Stories” will feature students’ reflections on the importance of Evelyn sharing her story and the work of HONOReform on their future nursing practice in a series called ‘Methodist Mondays’.
“Education and awareness are the cornerstone of the HONOReform mission. Lauren and I are grateful to Matthew Sobczyk, a nursing student, for providing this debut Methodist Monday blog,” Evelyn says.
During Dr. McKnight’s visit, I was very impressed with the amount of passion that she had for preventing reuse of needles, and enabling safe injection practices to prevent any further outbreaks from occurring. As a student nurse, I feel that enacting safe infection practices is one of the most crucial to prevent transmission of blood borne pathogens from patient to patient. Since needles are used every day for a multitude of reasons, it is important that no needle is used more than once to prevent any possible pathogens from passing between patients. It is one of the simplest acts that we as healthcare providers can use for safe practice. Hearing Dr. McKnight tell her story made me more passionate than ever to commit to this practice.
To be a patient advocate means to not only stand up for the patient and what their wishes are about the care that they will be receiving, it also means intervening when you see unwanted harm coming to your patient or any other patient from a fellow provider. I feel that being a patient safety advocate is one of the most important qualities of a health care professional, and if you can’t stand up for your patient and be there for them then you don’t deserve to be in the profession. You have to be there for your patient in order to provide the best possible care.
Without a doubt, I can’t thank Dr. McKnight enough for coming to speak to our class and sharing her story and her experience. When I had read her book, I was beyond shocked that such a horrific experience had taken place here in Nebraska, let alone in a town not far from Omaha. I also want to thank Steve Langan for coming along and talking about the activities that HONOReform has been a part of. It truly means a lot to have taken the time to come share their personal account with us. I won’t ever forget this experience.
