Sick with worry

[wantomove]

I am not certain but I may have thrown a Hep lock IV in the trash with 50ml bag and tubing. I do not remember removing it and placing it in sharps. I was dealing with a combative patient who had pulled her IV out etc. No excuse but there was so much going on I woke up in the middle of the night and it occured to me. Did I throw the hep lock into the trash w/ IV bag?! So stressed. Don't know what to do. I feel like turning in my license!

[sapphire18]

This isn't a huge deal...nothing you can do now anyway! But as far as I know, we only throw them into the sharps for the possible biohazard risk...they're not actually a "sharp".

[wantomove]

I thought this was a sharp. Can't someone get stuck with this if it should poke thru the trash bag? I am making myself crazy over this. First time I ever had someone rip out their IV.

[dreamingofbeing]

The hospital system I work at has you throw them away with the regular trash.

[ParvulusPuella]

The catheter, once inserted and the needle removed, is just a flimsy plastic tube. It's more likely that the spike from the tubing would poke through the trash bag and injure someone, than someone getting poked by the IV catheter.

[loriangel14, RN]

Relax.It happens.They aren't sharps anyways.Good heavens it's not a catastrophe.We just throw them in the regular trash too.

[DixieRedHead, ASN, RN]

It will be fine. Not a sharp. If that's the worst thing you ever do, you will have had a stellar career.

[sapphire18]

How could it stick someone? It's a tiny plastic tube.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

I thought this was a sharp. Can't someone get stuck with this if it should poke thru the trash bag? I am making myself crazy over this. First time I ever had someone rip out their IV.

This is not a sharp. When a peripheral IV is inserted, the needle is removed and only the cannula remains in the vein. No one is going to get stuck by a flimsy piece of plastic buried in the trash.

Working in pediatrics, patients ripping out their IVs is a daily occurrence. I have had IVs pulled out, kicked out, bitten out, etc.

[Perpetual Student]

I always throw the whole works in the trash. It's a soft, flexible piece of plastic with a blunt end. It's not unlike tossing a used Band-Aid.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

there's entirely too much drama about losing licenses (and other risks in daily life, while we're at it...it's a popular rant of mine). get the facts to help you think about developing a sense of proportion. look in the monthly newsletter your state nursing association sends you-- they list who has gotten a license suspension, conditions, or revocation, and why. in my state there are a coupla dozen a year, and they are for things like fraud, narcotics diversion, felony theft, and practicing under the influence. you can look it up for yours.

making a sharps error (and, as noted above, this isn't even one of those) is not gonna get you on that list. be careful, but do what the mayonnaise jar says: keep cool, do not freeze.