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I just got back from there - the pt was inpatient and they were able to do a stat blood draw and results...Hep B, C and HIV were fortunately all negative so I don't need immunoglobins or prophylactic meds...just a repeat blood draw to check my Hep B titers in 6 weeks to see if I'm a non responder...
Ummmmm yes, was a medic of two years . Had a call just as we were cleaning the inside of the ambulance. Anyways my driver left a roll of paper towel over the slot for my sharps box. Had a seizures call and started a line. This was before protecta caths were the norm and we used angiocaths. Well I went to swipe the paper towels out of the sharps box, with needle in hand and it caught me in the webbing of my hand between my thumb and index finger. The patient was postictal so I couldn't get too much info but when I got to the hospital the ER knew her and of course hiv and hcv +. Needless to say I ripped my partner. So had to do the course of prophylactics , this is back in 1999. Worst headaches I have ever known.
Had to do all the post exposure testing. Thank you to God everything , for me has been negative.
It happened to me with an lancet for checking blood sugar..I was pulling it out of the finger stick contraption to put it in the sharps and stuck myself. was given the patient's blood work to show she didn't have anything on it. I learned in school that the risk of contracting anything is quite small...risk increases with amount of exposure such a large bore needle. Hope all is well. Getting stuck is scary.
Twinmom06, ASN, APN
1,171 Posts
Any of you experienced nurses ever been stuck? So last night I pulled out the pts venous needle and was holding the site with my left hand. I went to slide my left hand out of the way and hold with my right (cuz my left was getting tired LOL), and apparently the very tip of the arterial needle came through the skin because I didn't see it and it wasn't bleeding and I actually sliced my finger!
I'm actually not freaking out because of the amount of infectious disease testing we do, but I still have to go for bloodwork...
I just feel incredibly dumb...