Yesterday at work, I was taking the blood sugar on a patient and after putting the blood on the strip and waiting the 8 years for our ancient, piece of c r a p glucometer to read the results, it read "error" so I grabbed another strip, reset the glucometer and instead of poking the guy again, attempted to just squeeze out another drop from where I already stabbed his finger - BIG MISTAKE. The blood squirted out directly into my eyeball. I mean, it was a gusher. I had no idea that much blood could come out of a tiny pinprick. So, then I had to do the whole exposed to blood protocol and worry about getting diseases.
So, yeah, don't go squeezin' clotted off fingers and if you do, don't be an IDIOT and point them at your own face.
What stupid mistake have you made that we can all learn from?
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Can you imagine .. the "ex" was also a nurse and the "perfect" nurse.But, I digressed..To the OP.. I have done a zillion glucometers, would not have imagined that possible. So sorry it happened to you. That blood exposure protocol is a nightmare.My big boo-boo was taking out a Heplock, it splashed back into my eye. Eye washes or not fun at all!
My "perfect ex" was also a nurse. He took an ACLS class and then determined that if you were "a good nurse," then your patient should never code. He spent a lot of time castigating me (who worked in a CCU while he was working on a renal transplant unit) about being a horrible nurse because my patients coded so often. Can you say "cardiogenic shock"? How about "Electrophysiology service"?When I was first learning dialysis, I had to poke an actual fistula. Our CCU patients were more likely to be acute dialysis patients rather than chronic dialysis, so rarely did we see a fistula. I poked it with the enormous dialysis needles and didn't get a blod return. So I poked it again, a bit distally. Got a blood return and flushed it with 10cc of NS per protocol. What seemed like the entire 10cc went into the fistula and back OUT the first hole I'd poked and directly into my face. I spent the next few hours in the ER getting blood drawn and being counseled on the various nasty diseases you can get from a blood exposure.
Dual CBI fluid bags, up high on a pole.....me, short thing standing underneath...stretching up, changing out the empty one on top so it can flow in to the emptying one on the bottom....NOT checking to see if the clamp is closed--really REALLY closed--and getting the shower of a lifetime at the patient's bedside. For which he laughed. Alot. And I got to go change my top.
Just the other night went to start an antibiotic piggyback. Hung the bag up on the pole, took out a secondary set, (did remember to clamp it off) and spiked the bag. The set was defective, clamp broke off at the base of the pointed part and the entire contents of the piggyback cascaded down my arm, to my armpit and soaked through to the skin.
Unfortunately this is an antibiotic to which I am severely allergic, reacting to skin contact. See nurse run, see nurse strip (I did make it to the restroom before doing this). Had to call the aide to go to OR and get me a set of scrubs. Had to notify the supervisor just in case I decided to stop breathing (have done that before) then go back into the room and explain to patient and family what THAT was all about.
Luckily with a dose of benadryl nothing worse than a skin reaction.
Let's just say that when you are manually irrigating a foley because they have clotted off, make sure you have a good grip on the cath and syringe!
Yesterday at work, I was taking the blood sugar on a patient and after putting the blood on the strip and waiting the 8 years for our ancient, piece of c r a p glucometer to read the results, it read "error" so I grabbed another strip, reset the glucometer and instead of poking the guy again, attempted to just squeeze out another drop from where I already stabbed his finger - BIG MISTAKE. The blood squirted out directly into my eyeball. I mean, it was a gusher. I had no idea that much blood could come out of a tiny pinprick. So, then I had to do the whole exposed to blood protocol and worry about getting diseases. So, yeah, don't go squeezin' clotted off fingers and if you do, don't be an IDIOT and point them at your own face. What stupid mistake have you made that we can all learn from?
One of the worse things I did was spike a blood bag and the spike came out the other end, creating a hole in the bag. The bag of blood(what was left of it), had to be sent back to the lab and another one made for the patient. That was not a good thing !!
One other thing that I did was accidentally pull out a subclavian dialysis catheter. I was working in acute dialysis and had taken the dialysis machine to the bedside to do dialysis at 6:00 in the morning. I was in a rush because we had so many patients do dialyze that day. I had my gloves on, I flushed the subclavian catheter and had it ready to go. I turned back to the machine to hook it up to the patient, reached for the machine and low and behold...attached to the fingertip of my glove was the subclavian catheter itself !!! In my rush, when I clamped off the clamp on the catheter, I included the tip of my glove in the clamp. When I moved my hand the catheter was attached and I pulled it all the way out !!!! It wasn't much fun to call the nephrologist at 6 in the morning to tell him he was going to have to come in and put another cath in.
The bad thing was when he finally DID come in at 11 AM, he had a hard time getting a new one in. Not a good day for me !!!!!
Lesson learned......slow down,don't be in such a rush !!
My Stand Back story was a bad idea of unspiking a blood bag, and the crime scenc of splatter all the way up the family, wall and ceiling. You look good in red, was the only thing to come out of my mouth, and then I AM SORRY. Very forgiving family.
It's really not a good idea to discuss your pedi patient's favorite video game while giving a colorful med via gtube. Landed right on my shoe. This was while I was training another nurse on my fabulous med skills.
I learned a long time ago... whenever you are doing anything that involves body fluids... keep your mouth closed!! That way when you are emptying a JP drain it won't squirt into your mouth. .. BLECH!
Yesterday at work, I was taking the blood sugar on a patient and after putting the blood on the strip and waiting the 8 years for our ancient, piece of c r a p glucometer to read the results, it read "error" so I grabbed another strip, reset the glucometer and instead of poking the guy again, attempted to just squeeze out another drop from where I already stabbed his finger - BIG MISTAKE. The blood squirted out directly into my eyeball. I mean, it was a gusher. I had no idea that much blood could come out of a tiny pinprick. So, then I had to do the whole exposed to blood protocol and worry about getting diseases.
So, yeah, don't go squeezin' clotted off fingers and if you do, don't be an IDIOT and point them at your own face.
What stupid mistake have you made that we can all learn from?
OMG! I had the same thing happen to me a few years back working in LTC! Luckily I had on a lab coat. The blood shot up from my waist area across my chest and onto my sleeve from the elbow up! You had to see my face, the patients face and the patients hubby's face. None of us could believe what had happened. We all had that stunned look, followed by an awkward silence then all of us laughing at once. Never in a million years did I think that much blood coming out at that speed would happen from a fingerstick. The thing is, I didn't even squeeze it very hard, it was no more than a little more pressure than a gently squeeze.
Thanks for the heads up. I have been a nurse for 5 years and take blood sugars quite often. Quite often instead of pricking a person again, if the glucometer doesn't give me a good reading I ALWAYS would make a second try from the same stick. Never have I had that problem. Lucky I guess! These are the things they don't tell you in Nursing school...
First, never attempt to do anything to a pt when it's too dark too see. I HATE turning on an overhead light at 0200 when the pt is sleeping.
In the dark, I hung an ATB piggyback. In the chaos of the four IV tubings hanging on the pole, I made the connection BELOW the pump instead of above. Because I didn't want to wake the pt. An hour later I discovered my IVPB was swollen to twice it's size, and ready to explode.:uhoh21:
Not a mistake I would have made with the light on.
Ruby Vee, BSN
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