Needle stick injury!

[coco0106]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice here. During a shift i was giving a subcu heparing to a tiny old lady in for pneumonia and stronglyoides. She had barely any fat on her arms and her abdomen was distended and firm, so I opted for her arm. Thought I had enough fat but it turns out i didnt, I stabbed right through her skin and into my own finger. it bled quite a bit in the glove and when i left the room I milked the finger and kept pushing out the blood. She isn't hep ABC positive so I'm not worried I'll contract anything.

However, for future practice does anyone have any tips on how I should position my fingers in such a way to get enough fat and avoid any possibility of the subcu getting me?

[amoLucia]

Think syringe too, not just fingers!

Make sure you line up the syringe parallel with your fingers holding the fat roll.

My guess is that you went sideways into the fat roll site and came out short into your own fingers???

I'm sitting here making fat rolls on myself as I hold a pen as my pretend syringe. I'm seeing how my fingers line up with the pretend pen-syringe and I would be injecting in the same direction of my fingers, not against them. I'm doing the same for an ID/IM as I would be for a SQ.

Even if you're not making a BIG fat roll, you are making a base site to hold onto. Just make the site wide enough between you fingers so your syringe has adequate target room between.

Just my technique.

PS - I hope you did your facility's protocol for needlestick injury just to be on the safe side.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

I'm sitting here making fat rolls on myself as I hold a pen as my pretend syringe. I'm seeing how my fingers line up with the pretend pen-syringe and I would be injecting in the same direction of my fingers, not against them. I'm doing the same for an ID/IM as I would be for a SQ.

I'm doing the same thing.

Aim more down and less through/across.