Urine/blood splash in eye

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A few weeks ago I was emptying the catheter of an elderly patient who had a TURP with some blood in the catheter bag. As I was emptying, a small (minute) amount of fluid splashed into the corner of my eye. I immediately washed it out but did not tell my supervisor because I did not see if as a true risk as the patient was elderly and had no history of HIV/Hep C. 2 weeks later I took a rapid HIV test at home and it was negative but I just want to know if there really was any risk in general of contracting HIV. I was sick for the last two weeks and it ended up being mono but the symptoms for both are very similar.

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Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.

Not knowing how much blood was really in the urine, I would think your chances of any infection are very low, but cannot say conclusively. If you can confirm the patient does not have HIV/HepC, you should be in the clear. If you didn't see a risk, though, I'm not sure why you tested other than the recent symptoms. I can't see any reason not to report something like that, then you will have the expertise of your employee health professionals to follow-up with. Much more reliable than random people on an internet forum. Keep your health a priority, always worth reporting something of concern.

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Specializes in OR, Nursing Professional Development.

Your employer should have a policy and procedure to follow in the event of an exposure. Following that offers many protections for you that failing to report negates. For instance, a negative history is not a guarantee that the patient was HIV/Hep C negative- it simply means the patient has never been tested for those viruses. Typically, a blood specimen is drawn from the patient involved in an exposure and tested. Additionally, it takes time to convert to a positive status- there's a reason they retest at 6 months. Should you test positive in the future, you have no proof that the exposure is what led to the positive test and have essentially robbed yourself of any workers comp that would have been in effect.

That's not to imply that you are at a large risk of contracting a disease from this exposure- the rate is in fact very low. The CDC has a good bit of information on risks of exposure. However, always do what will protect you, which is to report when the exposure occurs.

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Specializes in ICU and Dialysis.

Take this as a learning moment. Your chances of contracting anything in this situation is somewhere around 0.0001%, and yet it's stressing you out. Because it was an exposure.

I had a very similar situation happen during my practicum, and thankfully my nurse preceptor pointed out that I should start the bloodborne exposure protocol. Sometimes you don't think of it in the moment, or you fear it will get you in trouble. But the details don't matter, all you have to do is report to your employee health contact "Blood from patient X possibly got in my eye."

In my case, the patient consented to have his blood tested, everything was negative. And I knew that there was a 99.9% chance that it was. But *knowing* that gave me great peace of mind.

Test yourself for everything 1 year from the date of your exposure. With a bloodborne exposure where the pt refuses testing, or tests positive for something, the exposed person gets serial blood tests, with the last test at one year confirming negative. So have yourself tested then, and afterwards write it off as a lesson learned.

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A few weeks ago I was emptying the catheter of an elderly patient who had a TURP with some blood in the catheter bag. As I was emptying, a small (minute) amount of fluid splashed into the corner of my eye. I immediately washed it out but did not tell my supervisor because I did not see if as a true risk as the patient was elderly and had no history of HIV/Hep C. 2 weeks later I took a rapid HIV test at home and it was negative but I just want to know if there really was any risk in general of contracting HIV. I was sick for the last two weeks and it ended up being mono but the symptoms for both are very similar.

Workplace procedures for reporting exposures are there to help you and protect you. You must utilize them. Part of the process is to evaluate your risk so that you don't have to worry needlessly or try to take care of yourself on your own for what was a workplace exposure. In addition, seeking professional care according to policy eliminates the chance of relying on inappropriate or incorrect rationalizations in deciding how to proceed.

I think you should at least consider speaking with your manager about this and/or reporting it as a workplace exposure; I think you are due a visit with Occ Health if for no other reason than to benefit from their formal risk assessment and counseling (put your mind at ease).

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

As others have stated, we can't quantify your risk.

Please see your medical provider for more info.

Per our terms of service, we can't provide medical advice.

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