What is Needlestick Injury & Blood-borne Disease insurance?
For Medical and Emergency Services Professionals, needle stick injuries (NSI's) are a concerning part of life that requires specialises protection.
Unusual Risks Insured is part of the Sapience Group of specialist brands, created specifically to support people living with hard to insure occupations or health issues.
Video Transcript
00:00 - 04:04
Having an accident at work is something we all want to avoid.
Nobody plans to have a workplace accident, but the difficult truth is, even when we minimise the risks, some workplaces are just plain dangerous and unpredictable.
Each year medical professionals working in hospitals, clinics or at accident scenes are routinely exposed to dangerous life-changing risks.
These intense and often high pressure environments can change in the blink of an eye. The risk of accidental exposure to Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C or even the HIV virus through a needlestick or sharps injury, is a constant danger.
Each year in Australia over 18,000 needlestick or sharps injuries are recorded with 1 in every 9 nurses reporting ‘they’ve suffered a needlestick or sharps injury within the last 12 months’.
Sadly an additional 50% of these injuries go unreported. For medical professionals, this type of workplace accident can mean a life-long illness, losing a career and even being banned from working in their chosen medical field.
Through no fault of your own, a needlestick injury can have devastating psychological and professional consequences. The resulting financial impact on you and your family, can quickly turn a once comfortable financial lifestyle into a desperate one.
Meet Naomi. She’s an experienced A&E; nurse working on the surgical ward.
She’s super organised, a straighter talker, (a bit of a clean freak) and a busy goto soccer mum who gets stuff done.
She loves working busy weekend shifts because time fly’s, the penalty rates help pay her mortgage and the private school fees; and helps support her ‘not so secret love affair’ with designer shoes.
One evening while changing a cannula needle, her patient had an unexpected seizure and grabbed Naomi’s arm. While trying to reassure the patient, the needle slipped and punctured Naomi gloves, and her skin.
Through no fault of her own, while working her normal job, Naomi suffered a workplace needlestick injury. Her worst fears had become an accidental reality.
Naomi followed the safety procedures, was prescribed emergency medication and she informed her professional organisation about her accident.
So began the long wait to see if she’d been exposed to a blood born virus. It took three months before the first set of results was available. During that time many difficult thoughts went through her mind, but ‘financial security for her and her family’, was not one of them.
You see Naomi recognised early on in her career the dangers posed by contaminated needlesticks and sharps injuries.
A good friend recommended she learn more about her options and visit the website unusualrisks.com.au - the Australian blood-borne disease insurance specialists. They helped Naomi make a sensible decision to take out an insurance policy to protect herself and her future family, in case she ever suffered a contaminated needlestick injury.
She knew it couldn’t remove the risk of an accident, but it could provide significant compensation, financial security and ultimately peace of mind for her and her family - if something bad happened.
Blood-borne virus insurance can pay a lump sum up to $1,000,000 to medical professionals; (dentists, doctors, nurses), and related high-risk professionals (Police, Paramedics, Ambulance Personnel), if they contract HIV or Hepatitis B or C due to an accident while working in their usual job.
Should something happen, you and your family are taken care of financially so you can focus on recovery, at a time when finances are the last thing that people are wanting to worry about.
Now Naomi tells all her work friends about the difference that peace of mind brings and to jump online and visit unusualrisks.com.au and ask them whether they’d qualify for blood-borne virus insurance too. unusualrisks.com.au - the blood-borne disease insurance specialists for the people we can’t live without. Visit us @unusualrisks.com.au
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Call us today on 1300 137 403 or email us here for a no-obligation private chat about your situation.
Drew Browne is a specialty Financial Risk Advisor working with Small Business Owners & their Families, Dual Income Professional Couples, and diverse families. He's an award-winning writer, speaker, financial adviser and business strategy mentor. His business Sapience Financial Group is committed to using business solutions for good in the community. In 2015 he was certified as a B Corp., and in 2017 was recognised in the inaugural Australian National Businesses of Tomorrow Awards. Today he advises Small Business Owners and their families, on how to protect themselves, from their businesses. He writes for successful Small Business Owners and Industry publications. You can read his Modern Small Business Leadership Blog here. You can connect with him on LinkedIn. Any information provided is general advice only and we have not considered your personal circumstances. Before making any decision on the basis of this advice you should consider if the advice is appropriate for you based on your particular circumstance.
