Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
needle exchange programs
Proposal
Needle exchange programs (NEPs) were created in order to improve the safety of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and to reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne illnesses. These programs provide PWIDs with clean needles in exchange for used needles. The purpose of this review is to determine whether or not NEPs are effective in reducing the transmission of blood-borne illnesses in PWIDs. This is important to nursing practice because nurses often work with PWIDs and are advocates for their patients, which requires EBP-backed treatment options. In order to conduct this review, five databases were used and eleven articles were selected. The eleven articles selected and utilized in this paper discuss the effectiveness and ineffectiveness, in some instances, of NEPs in reducing the transmission of blood-borne illnesses. Research indicates that the effect of NEPs on the transmission of blood-borne illnesses is inconclusive. For this reason, no practice change is indicated, but further research is recommended.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
The Effect of Needle Exchange Programs on Blood-Borne Illnesses
Needle exchange programs (NEPs) were created in order to improve the safety of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and to reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne illnesses. These programs provide PWIDs with clean needles in exchange for used needles. The purpose of this review is to determine whether or not NEPs are effective in reducing the transmission of blood-borne illnesses in PWIDs. This is important to nursing practice because nurses often work with PWIDs and are advocates for their patients, which requires EBP-backed treatment options. In order to conduct this review, five databases were used and eleven articles were selected. The eleven articles selected and utilized in this paper discuss the effectiveness and ineffectiveness, in some instances, of NEPs in reducing the transmission of blood-borne illnesses. Research indicates that the effect of NEPs on the transmission of blood-borne illnesses is inconclusive. For this reason, no practice change is indicated, but further research is recommended.
