Lost in a sharps box

[MSN_Ed]

Have you or do you know of anyone who has ever used hemostats to retrieve something from a sharps box?

:studyowl:

[TigerGalLE, BSN, RN]

NO! But if i lost my diamond ring or something in one I might do it...

[TazziRN, RN]

Noooo, but like Tiger if I lost something valuable I might try it too.

[nicolel1182]

I agree with the above

[BJLynn]

I threw away a vial one time that had the lot number on it that I had NOT written down. I took some cloth tape and snaked it down there until I got the vial. Lifted it up and picked it off of the tape with hemostats. Maybe not the smartest, but neither was thowing away the vial.

[zacarias, ASN, RN]

But do you agree that if someone did lose their diamond ring in the sharps, that would have a witness with you to get it out?

Z

[jnrsmommy]

Didn't lose anything, but I did work in a facility where they were cracking down on the type of items allowed in there. One night, my manager came up and had myself and a co-worker get into one (surprisingly, it was easy, that was scary) and go through it and discard certain items (2x2s, regular syringes w/o needles, etc). My objections to doing this fell on his deaf ears, but he did hear the DON and Administrator after I went to them the next morning. Never had to do that again.

[ICURN_NC]

Didn't lose anything, but I did work in a facility where they were cracking down on the type of items allowed in there. One night, my manager came up and had myself and a co-worker get into one (surprisingly, it was easy, that was scary) and go through it and discard certain items (2x2s, regular syringes w/o needles, etc). My objections to doing this fell on his deaf ears, but he did hear the DON and Administrator after I went to them the next morning. Never had to do that again.

I'm pretty sure this violates every OSHA regulation r/t needle handling!

I would if I lost something important, but only with a witness. Last nurse I heard about digging through a sharps box had a narcotic problem and was NOT looking for something she'd dropped.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i've never even thought about having a witness! i've never gone into a sharps box to retrieve anything, but i had a patient one time whose husband stole the whole box and took it home so he could use the needles. for some reason, he believed that only his wife's needles were in the box!

[Myxel67]

I threw away a vial one time that had the lot number on it that I had NOT written down. I took some cloth tape and snaked it down there until I got the vial. Lifted it up and picked it off of the tape with hemostats. Maybe not the smartest, but neither was thowing away the vial.

BJ, you deserve a McGyver Award for that one!!!!! Take a bow!:thankya:

[CaLLaCoDe, BSN, RN]

Recently I had two other nurses assisting me with discontinuing an IJ. A time during the process I used my own scissors to undo some dressing. Medical scissors with the dull ends that don't scare pts. Anyway we did open up a steril scissor package to be able to cut away at the sutures that fastened the catheter. At the end after cutting with the steril scissors the tip of the catheter to send to lab, an orientee looked at me with silver objects in hand to toss in the sharps container and I nodded while he begain to place what look like my scissors into the sharps container with other silver objects. I had recognized my scissors, but too late into the sharps they went....whaaaah!!! :cry:

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

Back when I was in nursing school a nurse did loose a ring in the sharps container. What they did was go into a room, clean off a table and put down drapes...they were able to open the container (not sure how, didn't see that part) and using hemostats and other long tools were able to separate the sharps from the ring..retrive the ring safely.

Then the long process of using hemostats to put back in all the sharps one at a time into another box. I remember they were using thick gloves (like the dish washing type) and were gowned up.

It worked! But I still wonder how they got the box open safely...but it was a long long long time ago!

I lost my ring at work once..but it was inbetween the sheets in a bed I had just made..whew!