After reading about other people panicking on allnurses about the cursed needle stick....I can finally join the club.
Unfortunately.
These are the facts:
1. drawing labs with a butterfly, and about to retract
2. Patient moved unexpectedly and rapidly
3. needle pierced my hand
4. I was wearing gloves
5. I bled a lot under my gloves, indicating a deeper stick
6. Patient was a confirmed HIV+ with fairly high viral load according to last labs
7. Patient was already confirmed Hep C+
8. I started antiviral HIV meds within an hour and a half after incident
9. There are no prophylaxis meds for hep C
10. The labs were redrawn anyways on the patient (but not holding hope for a previous mistake)
10. I already know the statistics, as I was counseled heavily at work
My question is, how do I sleep at night, I am so so so upset, the kind of upset that makes you want to "turn back to 5" and crawl into your mom's lap and cry
Havent been in your shoes, but I am sending you lots of :heartbeat and prayers...what a scary situation you're in! You WILL get through this one way or another, but I am so sorry that you have a situation to "get through" in the first place. Be angry if you need to be, be sad if you need to be, just know that LOTS of us are praying for you out here in "AN land."
I am sorry you went through this:-( I too have been in your situation and actually contracted Hepatitis C. Had a pt pull an iv insertion needle out and throw it before it was retracted, and it stuck me in the thigh. High risk needlestick as it was a large bore, hollow needle that was freshly filled with his venous blood, plus it was trajected across the room into my largest muscle! I was lucky, though, as the pt was HIV negative and I turned out to be one of the lucky 15 percent of people that spontaneously cleared the virus.
The advice I have for you is to stay on the anti-retro virals...they suck hard core but your life depends on them. The odds of contracting HIV if you started the meds within 2 hours of your stick is dramatically decreased!!!!! Do not miss a dose!!!! As for Hep C, if you contract it, you still have a chance of clearing it spontaneously but if you don't then treatment is fairly suscessful for some genotypes. In 6 weeks you should get a PCR drawn...forget about getting a Hep C antibody test because that can take months to turn up positive. But if you contract the virus, it will almost certianly be present in your blood and so a PCR viral count can detect it right away. If you are positive, get a genotyping of the virus and also get a genetic test that looks at the morphology of your IL28B gene as that can help determine your odds of spontaneously clearing the virus. If you have the good morphology (CC), then wait it out for 3 to 6 months to see if you spontaneously clear. If you have the bad morphology, then start Hep C treatment right away.
Best of luck and keep us posted. So, so, so sorry you have to go through this and I wish you well. PM me if you have questions for me!
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
I am sorry you went through this:-( I too have been in your situation and actually contracted Hepatitis C. Had a pt pull an iv insertion needle out and throw it before it was retracted, and it stuck me in the thigh. High risk needlestick as it was a large bore, hollow needle that was freshly filled with his venous blood, plus it was trajected across the room into my largest muscle! I was lucky, though, as the pt was HIV negative and I turned out to be one of the lucky 15 percent of people that spontaneously cleared the virus.
The advice I have for you is to stay on the anti-retro virals...they suck hard core but your life depends on them. The odds of contracting HIV if you started the meds within 2 hours of your stick is dramatically decreased!!!!! Do not miss a dose!!!! As for Hep C, if you contract it, you still have a chance of clearing it spontaneously but if you don't then treatment is fairly suscessful for some genotypes. In 6 weeks you should get a PCR drawn...forget about getting a Hep C antibody test because that can take months to turn up positive. But if you contract the virus, it will almost certianly be present in your blood and so a PCR viral count can detect it right away. If you are positive, get a genotyping of the virus and also get a genetic test that looks at the morphology of your IL28B gene as that can help determine your odds of spontaneously clearing the virus. If you have the good morphology (CC), then wait it out for 3 to 6 months to see if you spontaneously clear. If you have the bad morphology, then start Hep C treatment right away.
Best of luck and keep us posted. So, so, so sorry you have to go through this and I wish you well. PM me if you have questions for me!
Also, ask if your lab can run a PCR for Hep C on the patient and not just an antibody test. If he was positive at one point but cleared the virus, then he is not contageous but will still have the antibodies. If he is only antibody present, then no need to worry bout Hep C but you won't know if he is contageous unless a PCR is done. That will also give you a bit more knowledge about his viral load and odds of giving it to you. Low viral count=lower risk of course.
So sorry to hear what you are forced to endure. Are you sleeping? If not get that apt with your PCP, to see if you can prn something to reduce your anxiety in order to sleep. Do this now, if you decide not to use anything, that's fine too. I just want you to be taken care of.
oh I am so sorry to hear that you are contending with this. You have plenty of willing ears to listen to you on this site, and I am sure at work and friends and family too. Also - nothing wrong with having a moment of crying on your mum's lap - it will probably make you feel better.
Sadly, that doesn't always happen. And if I happen to notice it when I come on (I work nocs), it's a suck it up & deal with it situation. We don't have access to the extra containers.
Call your facility's safety officer or risk management department. If you don't get a response from them, follow up with OSHA. You don't have to deal with an unsafe work environment. In fact, the more employees allow their work environment to be unsafe, the more likely it is someone will really get hurt.
The 3 anti-retro meds are surprisingly causing me zero symptoms, I was a bit light headed, fatigued for about 2 days, but now I'm fine.
I have had numerous people reach out to me at work, from md's, infectious disease, and co-workers to share their own personal horror stories...all with happy endings. This has helped more than anything in the world.
I work in a large level 1, inner city hospital.
The positive rates of hiv and hepC are outstanding (thus all the personal horror stories). I refuse to let this event beat me. There hasn't been a day yet where I haven't cared for a "positive" patient.
I have learned from this...I get blood drawn at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 12 weeks, 24 weeks and 1 year. I may need some support on those days cause I imagine my anxiety will begin to run high again.
The statistics from cdc from a hollow bore stick are:
trauma_lama, BSN
344 Posts
Havent been in your shoes, but I am sending you lots of :heartbeat and prayers...what a scary situation you're in! You WILL get through this one way or another, but I am so sorry that you have a situation to "get through" in the first place. Be angry if you need to be, be sad if you need to be, just know that LOTS of us are praying for you out here in "AN land."