How much is enough?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I was wondering what constitues an exposure? A drop of blood, a splash, what is the criteria? I have seen nurses at my facility perform venipuncture without gloves and incidently get blood on their hands, they never fill out a report or notify a nursing supervisor, nor employee health. One told me, "I have been doing this for over 20 years I am sure I have already been exposed to all that there is to come into contact with" So what is your opinion, is a drop of blood on intact skin an exposure?

technically i think it probably is, but, have i gotten blood on skin while trying to win a joint wrestling match /IV stick with a toddler and not reported it? yes

Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.

The skin is a good barrier, but if it is cracked or broken then one drop is a problem.

Specializes in Med/Surg, ER, L&D, ICU, OR, Educator.

It's hard to be in on any...any delivery, without being exposed (at least it is for me). Long sleeves are just TOO HOT in the delivery room, and I'm not even menopausal yet!

I suppose a single drop of body fluid is an exposure to non-intact skin. So far, I've been ok with incidental exposure to intact skin.

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