I was at work last night and experiences a dirty needle stick!! :angryfire It shouldn't have happened, but because someone was taught to put a needle at the end of an IV line to protect sterile conditions it did.
I work in a nursing home and we get pts in that really don't need to be there but this is the only way Medicare will pay for the treatments. This pt is in because he has cocci in his blood. he get ampicillin and Gentamicin IV scheduled to run at 10 AM, 11 Am [gent] 10 PM and 11 PM. In between, we are to do the SASH method. He has chronic endocarditis, brought on by valve replacement, defib placement that became infected, CABG, etc.
Anyway, a nurse put a sterile needle at the end of the primary line. I went in to hang the 11 PM gent and was trying to flush the line, but it wouldn't flush. I could see that there was something at the end of the line so I reached down to take it off. I wasn't wearing gloves because I was flushing the tubing. Unknown to me, there was blood in the line and of course, in the no longer sterile needle. If I had been wearing gloves, it wouldn't have mattered. I bled for 10 min. I had to get new tubing and hang the IV regardless of what was happening to me. I got it hooked up, wearing gloves and by the time I was finished, the first finget of my right hand glove was full of blood!!
I read his chart and didn't see anything r/t HIV or anything like that, but he has a BLOOD infection!!!
Why do nurses put sterile needles in the port? what is the reaoning? Isn't that why we wear gloves and use alcohol pads to wipe the ports off?
Thanks for letting me vent!! Any advice would be appreciated!!
You should have gone to the ER/Occupational Health site IMMEDIATELY! I wouldn't be asking for permission, I would be informing them that I was going NOW. Depending on the level of risk they assess, you might need to start prophylactic therapy--and the sooner the better.
I agree. Some people in charge don't like to make a big deal of a dirty stick because they don't want you to make a big deal. besides the obvious, fear of sepsis, or HIV, there are also the Hepatitis types that are much more easily spread than HIV. I say go to the ER and tell them what happened. Let the er decide how to handle it. Seeing them run to get the orders done will convince you how urgent it is for you to get this started.
I read his chart and didn't see anything r/t HIV or anything like that, but he has a BLOOD infection!!!
Why do nurses put sterile needles in the port? what is the reaoning? Isn't that why we wear gloves and use alcohol pads to wipe the ports off?
Thanks for letting me vent!! Any advice would be appreciated!!
Advice: Make sure get blood drawn immediately to document there is no existing problem with you. That's important. I read the advice everyone gave and it's pretty sound for the most part. Report it to workers comp and follow up with serial blood draws recommended for a needle stick injury. Your facility will be able to help you with that. If they don't then tell on them! :angryfire Report them to every set of initials you can find dealing with labor and safety. Just make sure there is some paper documenting the injury on the off chance you do convert for something.
On a more personal note. Don't worry too much. It sounds like a low risk injury. I had something similar happen with an HIV patient in 1997. Scared the living bejesus out of me. I didn't seroconvert. Spent some time talking with the ID Doc about it at the time it happened and he discussed the statistics for seroconversion with me for most sticks. It's really very low. Not very comforting at the time of the injury though and I understand your concern. My feeling is you'll most likely be okay.
SmilingBluEyes
20,964 Posts
Great advice from an ER nurse. Thank you so much!