accidental fingerstick

[chiuli]

I am so worried.

I was giving an injection to my patient when I accidentaly struck myself with the needle after injecting the patient.

He has MRSA (which after reading about it, says its everywhere skin, blood)

I made an incident report but I am so worried I will get sepsis.

He also has cancer, pneumonia. Im worried about the mrsa. Should my employer offer me something?

sorry meant to say needlestick not fingerstick

[lisaboricua1972]

It only takes once for something to happen, regardless of size. I had a needlestick injury after administering insulin as well. The woman was in her 70s and I was very much concerned for contracting a disease - the number of elderly/older adults with HIV/AIDS is on the rise.

[chiuli]

we have a policy book. It said to fill out an incident report for any injury at work. Thats what I did. Which the nurse who was working with me said that Im panicking for nothing

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

She keeps telling me the results are negative when it says not conclusive. So how can she insisit they're negative? It says it point blank

I'm confused. Did they do 2 different tests, one that showed HIV+ and one that was inconclusive? Is the western blot more reliable? Why would she go on an inconclusive result and ignore a positive result?

[chiuli]

mjmoon thats what I dont get either

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

Something is definitely fishy here.. you need a layer on your side to get things moving. Do you have anyone that can help you pay for those meds? Until you can get an official documentation on that man's HIV status you really need to be taking the meds.

[chiuli]

i read on webmd that these meds dont prevent hiv and studies on hiv coinfection are inconclusive

[nurse15dc]

Sorry but I don't get something. Is this your second accidental needle stick? Did you have a pt with MRSA and CA and stick yourself?

[Super_RN, BSN, RN]

Sorry but I don't get something. Is this your second accidental needle stick? Did you have a pt with MRSA and CA and stick yourself?

I'm wondering the same thing!

[chiuli]

No same guy. Same guy with MRSA and CA.

[Super_RN, BSN, RN]

I see...you definitely need a lawyer...a lot of lawyers will give you a free consultation before taking you on as a client, depending on what your lawsuit involves.

[chiuli]

Is she right about the hipa? am I in trouble or her?

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

I haven't learned enough about the HIPA violations to say for sure (if he is your patient, do you have a right to review his chart and within that chart shouldn't it be noted if he is indeed, HIV positive if they are aware of it?).

I do think she was in the wrong by lying about the patients results and expecting you do just go on as if nothing happened when there was indeed a positive result. That is downright criminal, imho. Obviously, your co-worker knew the truth, how did she know to tip you off and have you find the file on the desk? It almost sounds like a set up. (As immature as that would be) You should be able to look at the results of a test done on your behalf without being told you're crazy. You should be able to express your concerns without being told you're being unreasonable. If fact, your bosses actions/reactions throughout these seem unprofessional and suspect.