Gaining patient consent for blood tests following sharps injuries.

There is a high risk of staff receiving needlestick and other sharps injuries while working in health care. Concern is so great that a seminar on sharps injury prevention and single-use medical devices was held in March 2003 at the European Parliament in Brussels. Injuries caused by needles and other sharp medical devices, and the related risk of potentially fatal disease transmission, remain a major threat to the health and safety of health care workers across the European Union.