Needlestick last night and freaked out

Editorial Team / Admin · Aug 10, 2005

I'm a nurse in a detox facility and last night got stuck by a lancet I had just used on an IV drug user with DX Hep C (and I don't know what else is un DX). We have the old kind that don't retract and I don't even know how it happened but next thing I knew I was stuck and now I'm totally freaked out. I went right to the ER and had all the labs drawn, the patient agreed and also had all the labs drawn but they take a couple days ?? I think and in the meantime I've started on combination therapy and wait??? I am totally freaked out and horrified and mad at myself for being so careless. Has this happened to anyone else? Did you do the meds? I've taken 2 doses and have been so nauseous all morning. I just can't believe I did this.

You are not the only one to which this has happened. Just try to calm down. You did the right thing by getting all the labs and starting the meds.

Hang tight and we are thinking about ya!!!!!!

Siri

Super_RN, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2005

My prayers are with you. Nope, you are not the only one to ever do that. At the hospital where I work, most of the needles we use are retractable. I have stuck myself with an 18 g, right through the top of my middle finger. It was a clean needle, but a wakening experience. I hope everything turns out ok.

Jaime

Nurse Ratched, RN · Aug 10, 2005

I'm horrified that your place of employment doesn't use safety devices. That needs to be addressed IMMEDIATELY as they may well be in violation of OSHA standards.

My thoughts are with you - best wishes.

SmilingBluEyes · Aug 10, 2005

I agree w/Ratched. I would not work in a place not in compliance with the most current standards.

please follow the facility protocol of treatment and testing, and try to be reassured. many have been "stuck" and yet, turned out fine---the odds are actually in YOUR favor you will come out of this ok. YOU ARE CERTAINLY NOT ALONE and need not feel BADLY about yourself.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Aug 10, 2005

I'm sorry to hear that. Best of luck to you.

gilda · Jan 2, 2006

nursekelly, how are you? Did you get tested?. The same hppened to me. I was stuck with Hep C+ patient lancet 4 weeks ago. I am going crazy. I cry often. I have nausea ( Alhough my doctor says that it can be from stress) It is scary. Tell me how you were waiting for the results. Did you have any "imagenary" symptoms? Please write. Gilda

BabyRN2Be · Jan 2, 2006

I'm wondering, too, how this turned out. I know this happened in August but I'm wondering if you are still taking the meds.

You are definitely not alone. My mom has been stuck before. She had the labs drawn immediately but she decided against the meds. She's just fine now more than 10+ years later.

I'm hoping the same for you. Take care and give us an update when you can.

DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN · Jan 3, 2006

One of our nurses was 6 months pregnant, trying to flush a peripheral IV when it popped out and blood splattered in her eye. She came to the desk and we wiped her face with alcohol and flushed her eyes out really well with H20. The patient was very nice and said "don't worry I don't have anything" and blood was drawn on both of them. Several days later the nurse was totally freaking, the HIV test on the patient had come back positive. That was over 2 years ago and everything is fine. Good Luck.

Morning-glory · Jan 3, 2006

I too got a needle stick injury. The Sharps box was on the way to being full and the butterfly needle didn't go all the way in, so I whacked the box to shake everything down, but I missed (it was 0300 in the morning) and got a good stab into my hand. I totally freaked. It made me so mad that someone else's lifestyle choices would affect if I continued being healthy or if I got sick with some horrible disease. If some jerk when out and did IV drugs and got Hep B or AIDS, that's their lookout and their decision. I'm here to take care of this person, and I have never had a problem with that but not to catch what he/she's got. Turns out the patient was clean and I was OK, but the fear lived with me a long time.

I had an AIDS pt that I absolutely loved to care for. He would do all his own IV and IM meds because he didn't want to take the chance of us getting stabbed. He had a sharps box beside his bed and he would do his own dressing after we took all the padding off. Basically he would be the one in contact with his body fluids, clean the wound under supervision and reapply the first layer. Really nice kid. Heamophiliac contracted AIDS as a child. He knew all his meds and was open to any teaching either us to him, but more often, him to us. I wish they were all that understanding of their illness and treatments.

stones · Jan 3, 2006

I too got a needle stick injury. The Sharps box was on the way to being full and the butterfly needle didn't go all the way in, so I whacked the box to shake everything down, but I missed (it was 0300 in the morning) and got a good stab into my hand. I totally freaked. It made me so mad that someone else's lifestyle choices would affect if I continued being healthy or if I got sick with some horrible disease. If some jerk when out and did IV drugs and got Hep B or AIDS, that's their lookout and their decision. I'm here to take care of this person, and I have never had a problem with that but not to catch what he/she's got. Turns out the patient was clean and I was OK, but the fear lived with me a long time.
But it was YOUR actions that led you to be stuck. How this person may have become infected with hiv has no relevence.

nursekelly217 · Jan 4, 2006

my update... I took the combination therapy meds for 6 weeks and was sick as a dog throughout but am done now and fine. my labs are currently all normal which means I'm in the clear basically, although i f/u in feb for the last time. my needlestick was a horrible, stressful thing but fortunately i ended up okay. i have been pushing my manager and the program director to move to using safety devices however, given the population i work with on a daily basis (iv drug users, many of whom are trying to sneak in drugs and/or forget they have them on them or in their belongings), my risk for getting stuck is high... i am certainly even more cautious than i was before (still not even sure how my stick happened) when doing injections, accu checks etc and even more so when searching rooms, clients and belongings. it was very scary and i'm grateful to be okay(to date!) thanks for all the concern.