I need your opinion as I am feeling really anxious. Yesterday I opened a small portable sharps bin, it was kind of full. I turned the bin a little bit as I was trying to see if my colleague has disposed a syringe. All the needles I could see inside the box where retractable (no exposed needle) and I don't recall having put my fingers anywhere near the bins hole. A few minutes after handling the sharps bin I noticed a superficial scratch on my left knuckle (no bleeding). I know this sounds really stupid but I am feeling extremely anxious thinking that maybe the scratch on my knuckle was caused by one of the needles inside the sharps bin and I did not realized. The needles inside the box were a few days old. The bin contained mainly intramuscular needles, subcutaneous and maybe one needle from blood drawing.
I was also handling some fresh papers right before handling the bin and I am thinking that it could have been a paper cut but I am just not sure.
If it was caused by a few days old needle, will the virus still be active and capable of infecting?
[COLOR=#444545]I attended Occupational Health today and they did not recommend any course of action. [/COLOR]I feel silly about this incident and I cannot stop worrying.
Specializes in Allergy/ENT, Occ Health, LTC/Skilled.
I had a needle stick last year at 16 weeks pregnant. Employee health had no idea what to do with me, it was kind of a disaster. I was stuck when the safety (we had just switched to cheapo needles) broke off as I was pulling it over the needle. Thankfully, I knew who the patient was and he agreed to be tested, everything came back negative . Because my needle stick was low risk and the patient had low risk factors (he had been at this clinic for 30 years) my OB and I decided to forgo any prophylactic medication because there was no guarantee it would not harm my baby. I've been test three times over a year and nothing has ever popped up. If your worried, I would speak to your OB and get their opinion. Sorry this happened, it really scared me when it happened because it was my first needle stick ever.
Not medical advice: I had something similar happen. When in doubt I would always cut paper so that at least there was a paper trail if for some crazy reason something did happen down the road you could make the facility pay for the treatment. My 2 cents.
Since we "cannot give medical advice per TOS" I'd suggest going to the CDC website and researching HIV, Hep C, and Hep B. I believe the info will put your mind at ease in regards to transmission. I do BBPs at my job and the info we give out is very similar.
I'm still not clear on the reason for breaking into a full sharps container to see what a coworker did/did not do. There is another lesson in this situation that I hope you grasp but I won't get into because you are stressed and pregnant.
Once it's in the sharps bin, it's a done deal, no way am I checking out a depository of dirty, used needles. If your collegue wants to know something, they can explore themselves, but I wouldn't recommend it! Did you get a lecture from occupational health?
LPNtoRNin2016OH, LPN
541 Posts
I had a needle stick last year at 16 weeks pregnant. Employee health had no idea what to do with me, it was kind of a disaster. I was stuck when the safety (we had just switched to cheapo needles) broke off as I was pulling it over the needle. Thankfully, I knew who the patient was and he agreed to be tested, everything came back negative . Because my needle stick was low risk and the patient had low risk factors (he had been at this clinic for 30 years) my OB and I decided to forgo any prophylactic medication because there was no guarantee it would not harm my baby. I've been test three times over a year and nothing has ever popped up. If your worried, I would speak to your OB and get their opinion. Sorry this happened, it really scared me when it happened because it was my first needle stick ever.