Sick with worry

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.