Has anyone ever been careless and gotten stuck?

Nurses General Nursing

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Has anyone ever not been paying attention and gotten stuck with a needle? I am starting pre nursing this fall. I want to be a nurse, but getting stuck with a needle is unacceptable to me. If it's about rushing, I won't do that. It's not our fault the hospital doesn't want to hire enough RNs to keep the place going. We can do as much as we can, but I am not going to rush and be "unsafe" What if any things can I do to ENSURE that this does not happen. Thank You very much.

Josh

Was the resident re-educated on safety procedures, or was that against the culture back then?

Oh, I educated the hell out of him the next time I saw him. He was mortified, and I'll bet he never did it again.

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I appreciate that, but I don't think I want to reconsider my career choice based on the fact that I want to be super vigilant in not contacting commutable diseases. I imagine when you have been a nurse for so long, you could easily become complacent. Remember, complacency can get you killed. I work as an armed guard in a very dangerous place. Weird stuff can happen at any second, but the day I am not watching whats going on, I could be killed. I want to take some of these things that I have learned over the last 11 1/2 years with me into the med field. :)

I understand, I try to be vigilant as well, but mistakes happen. If it is "unacceptable" to be stuck with a needle then just give up now because it very well may happen, whether it is your fault or another nurses fault or you have a combative patient or whatnot. You can do everything right and still have a mistake occur.

I've been peed on and vomited on. Did I want that to happen? Obviously not. But it happened. I cleaned up and moved on. If you are going to be scared to do your tasks because of a fear of acquiring an illness, then another career may suit you better, or a different type of nursing career...case management, LTC (mostly insulin),etc.

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Specializes in ICU.

I have not gotten stuck yet but the odds are that I will at some point in my career, whether it's my own fault or not. It's just a part of the job. As far as bloodborne diseases go, there are also much easier ways to catch them than via needle sticks. You're a lot more likely to catch Hep C, for example, if the patient with Hep C also has esophageal and/or gastric varices (common with liver problems) and vomits blood onto your face. Happened to a coworker, and nothing happened to her... but you're a lot more likely to catch something getting a lot of blood in your mouth/nose/eyes area than having a tiny needle stick. Just saying. If it's needles you're afraid of that's one thing, but if it's bloodborne diseases a needle stick is really not the worst thing that can happen to you.

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I'm wondering if you've identified the reason for your intense fear of needle sticks. Is it fear of infection with incurable diseases? Any other reasons? Perhaps more knowledge of the actual risks of contracting disease through needle-sticks would help. The actual numbers are quite low, if I understand correctly the articles and information I've read. The risk varies, too, depending on how large the needle, how deep the penetration, the health/history of the individual whose fluids were involved, etc. There is also a prophylactic/preventative injection you can opt to take immediately post-exposure, meant to reduce the chance of infection. (Not sure how effective it is; and have heard it has unpleasant side effects that might prevent you from completing your shift that day -- Anyone familiar with this?)

I had two sticks -- one with an insulin pen needle (inadvertently grasped the used needle by the ends when discarding), and spiked my finger with an IV spike while trying to insert it into an IV bag (no actual exposure that time). Both happened on my last week of orientation when I was trying to go faster than my safe practice speed (definitely NOT recommended!) A hard lesson learned. Went through the post-exposure blood draws over a nine-month period, paid for by the employer. Thankfully, all results came out clean.

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Specializes in ICU.

Yes, Josh, it can happen. The statistics of people who have become HIV positive from a needle stick (on the job) is very, very small, however. We have plenty of safety measures now, but you do still have to stick someone to actually start the IV, or to draw blood. I have had several needle sticks in my career (25 years as an RN.) But I have also had vomit, sputum, urine, etc. on me plenty of times. I guess I have a pretty good immune system! I very rarely get sick, and then it is something simple. You have a better chance of your back going out, slipping down on something, or some other weird accident, than you have of getting stuck by a tainted needle. I once pushed a bedside table and it fell over, taking me with it. I was bruised from my hip down. And it hurt!

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Wiping a "highknee"??? Is that auto correct?

Needle sticks happen even to the most careful nurses. Be as careful as you can be.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

i second being more concerned with my back than with needles.

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Just so you know going in - you are NOT entering the 'med field'. You are entering the NURSING field, they are two separate and distinct disciplines. With their own bodies of knowledge and scopes of practice.

I know that, but n my mind, nursing is still the medical field. I feel that you still have to be vigilant

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Different scopes of practice has nothing to do with vigilance...

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I feel like I have put my foot in my mouth with this thread. This was definitely not my intention. I just have concerns. Thank you for all the great posts. Your all heroes. Keep up the great work and don't ever loose patience with people like me. This isn't pizza delivery, it's a serious job. Pre nurse students like myself need your help. I'm very thankful for this site AND all of you.

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I always find it humorous the reaction of younger nurses when I share that gloves were for 'special occasions' only back in the day. :)

Then you would LOVE the face I just made in a crowded Starbucks reading that. Even my kids asked me "what's wrong mom?" LOL

Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)

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things happen. always be as careful ad you can. but do not anticipate others will be in mass chaos like a code , giving a super strong psychotic pt IM haldol, even with the 100lb aide holding him down @@, or even the infamous I&D at bedside where the MD just leaves instruments all over the place. Or a pt who was ok one second now spitting at staff. Have goggles and masks around for pretty much anything (esp any pt with trachs) i saw a nurse get blasted with sputum when a suctioning a pt who was desating into the 50s . Yes making sure you are safe , may delay pt care. so be it. or walking into an arterial bleed . it is a hazard of the job

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