Political Quotes

“Every year, 600,000 injuries occur as a result of nurses and other health care professionals being stuck accidentally by needles. It is not because of any negligence on their part. It is because of the dangerousness of their work. Approximately every 35 seconds, someone--usually a nurse--is stuck with a needle. It is estimated that the number of reported cases is underestimated. It is probably every 15 seconds, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, that these individuals are injured. So we have at least 20 diseases that are transmitted very easily by being stuck with needles. I gave the account yesterday of two nurses... whose lives were dramatically altered as a result of being stuck with needles while being nurses. One of them takes 21 pills a day; the other takes 22 pills a day. They are very, very ill--HIV and hepatitis C. The purpose of these amendments is to have there be a standard established so that this, in fact, will not take place in the future. There are already needle-less instruments that can be used, which work just as well.”