futurerntho

I had a patient with Hepatitis C and as I was taking care of her, I was leaning against the siderails of her bed. When I exited the room, I applied sanitizer on my elbows and felt a slight sting on my forearm near my elbow. I'm wondering if there's a cut somewhere over there, but all I felt was a bump. Is it possible that I was exposed to hep c from this? I dont remember there being any blood on the siderails, and my patient had arm weakness, so I doubt she would be able to reach that far on the siderails. Also, how soon is it to test for hep c after exposure?

I'm still a student so this was my first time and I guess I'm just paranoid. Thank you all.

But the tip seems a bit sharp/hard

Would that have been enough to poke me? And where/how should I report it.

Of course I wore gloves.

I'm freaking out a little because I was removing an IV catheter on a patient yesterday and i held the catheter part. There was a lot of tape so I bundled the tape in my hand and part of the catheter too. At some point, I felt some pressure at the tip of my middle finger and the tip of the catheter. I dont remember now if I felt a puncture, but there's a small bump on my middle finger. I didn't notice any bleeding, but I just keep wondering if maybe it closed up already. That patient's chart also didn't say anything about bloodborne infections/viruses like Hep C or others. The catheter didn't have a needle in it for sure. But I'm just paranoid I think.