**URGENT** I need a nurse to help me with a TB question!!!!!

Nurses General Nursing

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I got a TB skin test approx. 13hrs ago and at the injection site there is a red circle pretty much the exact size of a quarter...theres no real hard callis but when i lightly run my finger over the area I can tell that its not 100% flat, its probably 5% raised, if that. (im not good at percentages or numbers so dont hold me to that) Basically I AM FREAKING OUT!!! And google isnt helping me calm down. I guess why I need a nurse to read and respond to this is I need to know what is a positive TB test and what isn't.

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Chill out and stop freaking out. Are you breathing? Do you have a pulse? You're alive. Welcome to the world. The results are measured 48-72 hours later, not 13 hours later. If you've got a big 15 mm induration in a couple days, then yeah, I'd probably want to get it confirmed and checked further, but not freak out. Nurses don't freak out, at least not on the outside. Come on, now.

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Specializes in Hospice / Psych / RNAC.

"Stop" rubbing it and keep your appt to have it read...this is the 21st century; it's no longer a kiss of death.

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STOP rubbing it!! You will just further irritate your skin! You had an injection right under the surface of your skin. On the sensitive underside of your wrist. Leave it be. Get it read when you are needing to. Take it from there. It is hard to not be suggestive. But the greatest thing you can learn as a nurse is not to be. Stop googling junk. You will drive yourself mad.

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A skin test will not confirm that you have TB.. It will just confirm if you are exposed to tuberculosis or its causative agent..

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Per our terms of service, we can not offer medical advice. Please talk to your provider.

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