Exposure question!

Nursing Students General Students

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I was checking gastric residual of a patients peg tube and I got some of the residual on my wrist. I washed my hands immediately and I don’t see any cuts or openings of my skin in that area. Should I be worried about possibly contracting something from this? I’m a nursing student so I’m really not sure. I asked my instructor and she said I was fine. I was wearing gloves by the way. Thank u!

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In my opinion please try not to worry. Gastric contents on intact skin is not likely to cause you any harm. You washed your hands and told your instructor not much more you can do.

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

You are exposed to microbes any time you are out in public. I presume you are up to date on your immunizations and perform effective hand washing on a regular basis. Please to continue to use universal precautions to prevent exposures. If I were you, I would not worry. And believe me, you are going to be exposed to much worse things that gastric contents.

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27 minutes ago, elen2018 said:

Should I be worried about possibly contracting something from this?

Nope! Not even a little bit.

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Thank u! I just worry beside I have an infant at home and I’m not really sure If gastric secretions are infectious or not. But yeah just making sure!

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Specializes in Public Health, TB.

Your skin is a fantastically effective barrier to infection. Most microbes enter the body via mucous membranes or a break in the skin. So keep your skin intact, and wash hands frequently to keep from transferring bugs to your eyes and and mouth and to others, including your family. Generally speaking, gastric contents are so acidic that most infectious agents are killed, but there are few nasties that could conceivably survive, thus immunizations and universal precautions.

I used to drive my students nuts with scolding them about touching their faces during clinicals. I was trying to protect them from themselves!

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Thank you for your reply it made me feel better. I try to be as careful as I can and wash my hands often. Thanks again!

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