Did you contract anything from a patient?

Nurses General Nursing

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Silly question but I am just curious. I have never directly seen or heard of any healthcare workers I know contracting anything from a patient at work, and I am in frequent contact and air borne isolation. Obviously it happens, like the ebola RN I remember reading about, but have you ever seen anything in your facility?

Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.
Long time ago in my wild youth years there were rubella and pertussis. I also happily missed quite a few opportunities to get meningococcal infection, Tb and diphtheria.

This! And as previous posters have said, the possibility is there, even if you're using appropriate precautions.

I managed not to get TB from the patient the county had cleared (but who was infectious). I realize there's still a chance I could get the flu but I've coated myself liberally with alcohol-based hand sanitizer, I wash my hands, I never touch anyone's bare skin if I can help it, and I strip off my scrubs and put them in the wash when I get home. Also, I leave my Danskos outside in the hall.

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Do headaches or bad mood count?

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Specializes in School Nurse, past Med Surge.
If I ever got a cold or the flu or other run of the mill infection, how would I know if I got it at work or at the grocery store, movie theater, airplane, or other place?

Last year my then 6 year old daughter came down with C-Diff!! I haven't worked in a hospital for about 8 or 9 years & was a SAHM until I took a school nurse job a couple years ago. There's more than just run of the mill cold/flu viruses "out there" these days, unfortunately.

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Specializes in Critical care.

We had a nasty respiratory virus going through the nurses on my unit last year. Pretty sure I picked it up on my unit- but I can't say if it was a patient or another staff member that started it. We had a patient with a specific virus that I think it might have been, but also before a bunch of nurses got sick our manager was sick- so it really could have been one of them or somebody else entirely. I wore a mask the days that I was able to work and called out when I was just too sick.

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Specializes in Private Duty Pediatrics.

I can take care of special needs kids with Pseudomonas. MRSA, or VERSA, and I don't get sick. But put me with regular kids with the crud - coughing, etc., and I will be sick.

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I got acquired immunity to hepatitis B, without getting the infection

& Bangs, ( undulant fever) from a crazied cow attack, which I arrested or treated with five ultraviolet blood treatments, rather than the 6-8 weeks treatment with some strong antibiotics.....

I had to Google Bangs....where were you, what were you doing, to be in the presence of a crazed cow. Inquiring minds want to know. Who, where, how, do you get ultra violet blood treatments?

A class mate, after 30 plus years of nursing, found out she was hepatitis B surface antigen positive when she tried to donate blood. She has none of the obvious risk factors for exposure, and admitted to me she had several needle stick injuries in her many years of nursing she never bothered to report!

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Specializes in Adult MICU/SICU.
Interesting question, RNrythm. No, I haven't but am interested in the replies.

However, I think I'm getting dementia from working with geriatric psych patients. Or it could be the aging process.

And I'm only partially kidding about this, too. It's like my Dad use to say: "It's hell to get old!"

Dad's (and mom's) know best - but Mick Jagger said, "What a drag it is getting old".

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Specializes in NICU.

Everytime i was floated to peds floor I would come down with strep.The other occasions I would like to forget.

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Well, I'm almost positive that I got the flu from some respiratory patients. The rapid flu test isn't 100% accurate (far from it) even though I was vaccinated I still tested positive. Yes, I cannot prove it was from work, but it definitely increased my odds.

I've had pink eye a couple of times soon after discovering my patient had undiagnosed pink eye that was treated after I called doc.

Back when I started nursing patients only went on isolation once they were confirmed MRSA, CDiff, VRE...Never got physically sick but I'm pretty sure I'll have the private room for MRSA in my nares if I was ever tested

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Specializes in School Nursing, Pediatrics.

YEARS ago, I am talking about at least 20 years ago, when I was working inpatient in the hospital, we had a patient that was diagnosed with SOMETHING (I cant recall what now) but anyone who had come in contact with that person before the diagnosis had to go Cipro. After the DX of course he was on precautions, but not before, it took like a week to get confirmation, and of course I was his primary!

And that is how I found out I am allergic to Cipro!

I stopped taking it, after 1 dose, but thankfully I never got what he had.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

Years ago I was a candy striper in the hospital. I'd had all the pre-volunteer testing, including negative TB test. The following year I had repeat testing and my arm blew up positive. No known interaction with a TB patient, they attributed it to potential hospital exposure. This was almost 30 years ago, had a year of INH therapy, never became active or anything. Although it is annoying the number of chest x-rays I have needed over the years to confirm the negative.

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Specializes in critical care, ER,ICU, CVSURG, CCU.
I had to Google Bangs....where were you, what were you doing, to be in the presence of a crazed cow. Inquiring minds want to know. Who, where, how, do you get ultra violet blood treatments?

A class mate, after 30 plus years of nursing, found out she was hepatitis B surface antigen positive when she tried to donate blood. She has none of the obvious risk factors for exposure, and admitted to me she had several needle stick injuries in her many years of nursing she never bothered to report!

S.E Tex...... bangs as for many decades has been eliminated un American cattle, but the bacterium still in soil as clostridium, tetorifice ...etc

My little terrier was harassing the cow to a boiling point.....I made the mistake to going in the pen to call my dog off, I was two pickup trucks length away from the cow and in the next breath she charges me head buts me in chest, flips me and walked on left elbow , causing laceration with her hoof ...thankfully my 5 mo old aust. Shepherd, chased her off me and held her up in a corner till I could limp to safety, I was covered in mud, blood and cow potty........ When my husband saw. Me , he wanted to call EMS, I said no I use to work in that ER, I have to clean up first.....I should of called my self in as trauma alert....as I had closed chest injury, compression fracture T5, and grossly contaminated laceration ....

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