[VegRN]

There is NO recommended post exposure treatment for Hep C. See the CDC link below for recs on Hep B and HIV.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5011a1.htm

[kat911]

If our lab has blood we can test without patient permission. Your GF needs to find out what the patients history is, is there anything that makes him high risk. That is not fool proof but generally is accurate. We don't offer drugs to staff unless the history is suggestive of high risk. Contaminated exposure is unfortunately a part of the job. Not to be taken lightly and always reported. Unless it was a blatant and reckless accident there should be no repercussions.

[BSNtobe2009]

I also don't know why they told her she had to wait 6 months to be tested for HIV. On the CDC website, worst case scenerio, that if a patient, was indeed infected with HIV, that in most people, the HIV antibodies will show up in the majority in a few weeks from date of first infection. The rest will show up a minimum of around 3 months. Only in very, very rare cases will it take a full 6 months for HIV antibodies to show up from date of first infection.

So, I don't know why your girlfriend was told 6 months was the standard wait, because that seems to go against what appears to be current testing methods.

[Jess1983]

I had a needle stick. If she gets treatment right away and a hepatitis b shot right away, she will be watched (as far as blood screening goes) for up to a year after seh stuck herself. she should aslo be put on HIV proflaxis, which is where seh takes a bunch of anti-viral drugs to reduce her risk of transmission.

[ortess1971]

Originally Posted by BSNtobe2009

Well, I'm basing that on the fact I haven't been admitted anywhere in the last 15 years where they didn't make me sign one of those forms. Maybe it's a state thing. But they make me sign that form even when I got to the doctor's office and it's part of the routine paperwork. The ER's have it, and unless you are going to die in the waiting room, if you don't sign the form, they will refuse treatment.

Many places are changing the way they gain consent for testing a pts blood. The OR just got new consent forms that specifically state that if a worker gets stuck during the case, the patients blood will be tested for HIV/Hepatitis. Many places will test even if the pt says no..next time they draw labs, they'll just do an xtra tube.

[Malloy]

Thanks everyone

[TazziRN]

Originally Posted by BSNtobe2009

I also don't know why they told her she had to wait 6 months to be tested for HIV.

I missed that. Both places that I have worked the standard of care is to be drawn right away, whether or not the source pt is tested. Two reasons: one is to have a baseline to prove you didn't already have the antibodies, and two so that there can be a trend over the next months as you're tested again. If she's being made to wait 6 months to even be tested herself and is unfortunate enough to come down with it, she would be hard pressed to prove it was from this exposure. If her employer refuses to test her now, she should go to her doc and have herself tested.

[OzNurse69]

Originally Posted by Malloy

BSN: Im obviously worried about her health. When I mentioned 'statistics' I was hoping for something like, ".0005 % of nurses who get stuck with a low risk needle contract HIV" or something similar.

When I had a stick a couple of months ago, my staff counsellor told me there were no recorded cases of anyone who had been stuck with a low risk needle contracting HIV. Anywhere. Ever.

I took his word for it and didn't research it myself, but that's my understanding.

[TazziRN]

Originally Posted by OzNurse69

When I had a stick a couple of months ago, my staff counsellor told me there were no recorded cases of anyone who had been stuck with a low risk needle contracting HIV. Anywhere. Ever.

I took his word for it and didn't research it myself, but that's my understanding.

Even getting stuck with a high-risk needle, the odds are in your favor, but it's hard to think about that when it's your first stick.

[Daytonite]

Malloy. . .as nice as your posts make you seem, I have a real problem with male significant others who post about problems their female nurse partners are having. Nurses are battleships and are perfectly able to stand up for themselves. I, for one, would be extremely insulted if someone were forcing unwanted interference upon me regarding a problem I have to deal with. Your SO's significant absence from this discussion makes me wonder what your real motivation here is. If you are worried about the impact this is going to have on you, just say so, so we can get you the correct information you are looking for. Otherwise, I'd like to know why your girlfriend isn't speaking for herself here.