Would You Worry?

Nurses Stress 101

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A few weeks ago I was giving an hiv/hep c positive man an insulin injection with an insulin pen. After all used needles were in the sharps, I picked up another needle on top of the medcart. Needle was not used on patient but my thinking is I could have screwed the needle into the insulin pen (would have touched insulin, not pt) then unscrewed it and then scratched myself through my glove while picking up that needle. The needle is one that screws onto the insulin pen and just the back was open. I was wearing gloves checked them for holes and saw a small hole. I'm not even sure I stuck myself but I'm scared I might have. My finger didn't bleed no marks.

My main question is... If the tip of that needle touched his insulin in the pen (pens can have back flow of blood) and I had a small poke with no blood is this an HIV risk? I think I would have felt a needle stick but I have so much anxiety and need an answer from someone with experience. Again needle was not injected into pt anday not have even had contact w his insulin but if it did.

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You are fine. First off, the insulin in the pen is not contaminated. Second, you did not stick or scrape yourself. Third, even if you stuck yourself w/ a contaminated needle the chances of contracting HIV/Hep is very small.

I don't want to be mean to you so please don't take this the wrong way but it seems like you might have a bit of an anxiety problem. Your fear of getting HIV/Hepatitis in this scenario is not rational. The anxiety of giving this patient an injection might make you unnerved enough that it might actually cause you to make a mistake.

If you have an infection control or occupational health nurse where you work, maybe talking to him/her about your fears of contracting HIV/Hep will help to relieve your anxiety. He/she can discuss the risks with you and I bet you will feel more at ease when you know the statistics.

Again, I don't want to sound mean. I've been guilty of worrying about irrational things myself. Relax :-). You are going to be fine :-)

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You would have felt it if you were stuck by a needle! I stuck myself the other day while giving insulin. Luckily it was a clean needle when it happened. It hurt! I'm not one that minds shots but because it was unexpected, I def felt it! You def don't have anything to worry about!

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Thank you so very much annie.rn. Thank you for taking the time to respond!!!!

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Thank you!!!

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You're welcome :-)

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Specializes in UR/PA, Hematology/Oncology, Med Surg, Psych.

I agree, if you were stuck you would have known it without a doubt. You're over-thinking and upsetting yourself. Worrying never solved anything.

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