Threat of needle sticks!!

[Epona]

Hi all. I am just curious. I am planning on going to nursing school this coming Spring. How likely is it that one gets stuck with a dirty needle? Does that happen often? I want to do nursing, but I am having second thoughts as I do not want to get stuck with a dirty needle OR be trying to take blood and the person flinch and I get stuck. EEEeeeeeee... I don't mind operating with a scalpel and such, that does not bother me, but the getting stuck with a dirty needle while the person is awake and responsive bothers me. How much of a realistic threat is this????? Help!

Epona

[kaletra]

Hi, needle stick injury is an emotionally traumatic experience. Although, majority hospitals are using needleless system , needle stix injury / infectious exposure still happens. How safe is needless system? well, i guess, its to a certain extend, the end user must be proficient in using the device. every job has its hazard.

[oneLoneNurse]

Thank you everyone and I do appreciate your honesty here.

I know I will have to do a year or so of clincial and I can bare it for a year or so, BUT doing the poop cleaning and vomit cleaning and so forth for a life long career... no. I can bear it to "do my time" so to speak, but I do not want an everyday diet of it.

You get used to it. After a year or two of it I think your attitude towards poop, pee, vomit and respiratory secretions will change. If you have a child I guarantee it will change. All are just human, animal bodily functions. Not much different from my grandfather's farm, though I do realize some of us would not categorize us all as animals. To me its our higher level thinking that differentiates us from other animals not our bodily functions. I know I am going off on a tangent here.

[truern]

I know I am going off on a tangent here.

I think there's a lot of that going around

Epona hasn't even started nursing school....she has no idea what even just school entails. Jmho, but I think she's in for a bit of a shock.

[JessicRN]

I only lately went needleless and have never had a needlestick. We still draw blood with butterfly needles that are supposed to be needless but too hard to make needless until out of the pt. Best advice take your time when giving any needle or starting an IV. Do not let anyone rush you. Get lots of help when dealing with a violent or agitated pt

[NeoNurseTX, RN]

Thanks. Nope. I am hoping that by doing the BSN and working for a year to get a little experience then going MSN, I will by-pass all that hospital stuff. I don't mind the hospital and don't mind helping folks, but as I mentioned wiping up the poop, vomit, pee, etc. is not my thing. I am thinking that in a university setting you will get some clinical esperience, but not a lot of time in the hospital as you would in a hospital diploma program for example. So hopefully I will not have a ton of clincial hours in a hospital by going the BSN university route. I have heard the nursing students there have less clinical time. I am probably sounding like an oger here.

You know, I am just asking here, do the doctors have to do this poop and vomit and pee cleaning?? OR is that pretty much slated just for the nurses?? As I mentioned earlier... I would just go the medical school route, but for health reasons, cannot do the 36 hour residency shifts that the docs. have to pull.

I love medicine and have loved it for a long time... I am really torn here...

BSN programs have a ton of clinical hours, too - 90 per class here. You're going to be doing/seeing some NASTY stuff and it will be in inpatient settings!

[DIXIE B WADE]

If I usually get stuck at least three or four times a day on average some days a little more others a little less.

Are you rummaging around in the sharps disposal? I have been a nurse for 34 yrs,ER and NICU, I have had 3 sticks in all those years.

[tridil2000, MSN, RN]

Are you rummaging around in the sharps disposal? I have been a nurse for 34 yrs,ER and NICU, I have had 3 sticks in all those years.

i thought the response was meant to be sarcastic!

lol

i had hiv blood splash in my eyes in 1997.... had to take the cocktail for 6 weeks.

[DIXIE B WADE]

The comment is really meant as one of concern. I watched a young nurse recap an insulin syringe after givng my husbands injection yesterday.

So it should be taken as it was meant, an attempt at a humorus remark to perhaps make this nurse to think before she handles sharps.

[tagamargos]

Wow! Everyone has been really helpful in shedding light on the threat of needle sticks. Thank you!

Ok... I am going to be really honest here.. from the last post tridil2000 mentioned a LOT of incidents can occur when working as a nurse. I am not doing that period. I am not cleaning poop or thick nasty secretions. Not doing it. Just not doing it.

What I envision myself doing is ordering tests, helping diagnose illnesses, talking to families, educating patients, etc. I do not see myself cleaning poop, cleaning up vomit, etc. I am not trying to be offsensive here at all, just stating that I am not doing that. I have been accpeted to nursing school for next spring so I still have time to back out. I was planning on going straight from RN to MSN to nurse practitioner. I would have gone right into medical school, but do to health limitations I cannot. But honestly, is that what you all do??? I do not want to be a floor nurse or work in a hospital!!! I honor you all for doing that, but that is not what I envision for myself....

HELP!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

I work in a teaching hospital.... RESIDENTS AND INTERNS (MD) Do the dressing changes... stage iv, unstageable decubitus ulcers...part of training...sorry... you will still meet gross things EVEN in med school.

[ER_NRS]

I think we need to be realistic here. People with sick hearts don't just have a sick heart. Many of them have sick hearts as a secondary problem. Often poeple have more serious illness and their heart problem is a result of something else. I work in the ER and just yesterday a guy came in for an infected fistula (dyalisis), very swollen hands, legs and feet (CHF) and he was recently diagnoses with Hepatitis. This just shows that you just never know, you can't tell from outward appearances who has what and you are exposed everyday unknowing. I handle every pt. as if they may have something when it comes to body fluids. You must be diligent and cautious. Utilize your universal precautions. We have a Doc that is a germ phob and he won't even go into a pt. room without gloves, this is a little extreme I think and I believe that it makes pts. uncomfortable. If your more worried about yourself and not the care of the pt. then you are not going to have the pt. best interest at heart. Nursing is all about the pt. and their needs.

[P_RN, ADN, RN]

I have been stuck 3 times in all my years, and I recall the circumstances of every one. It is a risk but I've not been stuck since needleless systems were adopted.

[L.O.E.N.]

I just treat needles like a loaded gun. Don't point it unless you intend to use it... and then safety it when you're done. I've never had a dirty needle stick, but I have stabbed myself accidently with insulin syringes when mixing a couple times. You just have to make sure to pay full attention and not let people distract you when you're using a needle.

....and lets all sing the "poo and wee" song! Who doesn't love poo and wee?! :lol_hitti It's not THAT bad, i mean, c'mon, you have to smell your own, why not share the love? it's just like a public bathroom in Walmart.... just bring a can of Vicks vaporub and stick a bit under your nose, then breathe through your mouth. It's an unavoidable part of practically ALL medicine (except radiography, maybe... like said earlier), docs included.... I'm aiming for anesthesia, which is relatively clean, but even there you get barf, mucus, and blood... if that makes you sqeemish, either get used to it real quick or seriously reconsider spending tens of thousands of dollars on school to join a profession FULL of grody bodily expulsions. :)