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Possible occupational exposure 3 months ago
Hi all,
I'm a third semester nursing student, and in October I had a patient with s history of illicit drug use. When a fellow student was checking his blood sugar, I handed her a strip, and her hand grazed my hand where I had some chapped and peeled skin from a hang nail. The skin never bled, but it was pink. My teacher told me I had nothing to worry about since I had "no open wounds." I'm not even sure if the patient was HIV positive, but he had several risk factors for the disease.
I took an Oraquick test at 3 months that was non-reactive. And, I had a native result at a local clinic that also used the oraquick test. Next month will be 6 months since the incident and I have a blood test scheduled at the health department. I know 3 month tests are usually conclusive, but could the triamcinolone acetonide 0.1 cream I use for eczema have suppressed my immune function??
I know I may sound like I'm overreacting, but I can't stop thing about it. Hopefully, a negative blood result at 6 months will put all my anxiety to ease?
P.S. What does the CDC mean by non-intact skin, and are there any reported cases of that?
Thank you.
I'm a third semester nursing student, and in October I had a patient with s history of illicit drug use. When a fellow student was checking his blood sugar, I handed her a strip, and her hand grazed my hand where I had some chapped and peeled skin from a hang nail. The skin never bled, but it was pink. My teacher told me I had nothing to worry about since I had "no open wounds." I'm not even sure if the patient was HIV positive, but he had several risk factors for the disease.
I took an Oraquick test at 3 months that was non-reactive. And, I had a native result at a local clinic that also used the oraquick test. Next month will be 6 months since the incident and I have a blood test scheduled at the health department. I know 3 month tests are usually conclusive, but could the triamcinolone acetonide 0.1 cream I use for eczema have suppressed my immune function??
I know I may sound like I'm overreacting, but I can't stop thing about it. Hopefully, a negative blood result at 6 months will put all my anxiety to ease?
P.S. What does the CDC mean by non-intact skin, and are there any reported cases of that?
Thank you.
You never had a risk, which your nursing instructor already told you. She is totally qualified to assess your risks, and for what it's worth, I completely concur with her assessment.
You are definitely overreacting and no testing was necessary in this situation.
Any testing you have done now or in 3 or 6 months will be done ONLY to put YOUR mind at rest, not to test for HIV. These tests will all be negative because there was no risk.
I'm sure your curriculum will eventually encompass HIV Prevention and I would hope that will ease your mind, as we both know that knowledge is power.
If you are still having anxiety about HIV, you need to discuss this with your nursing supervisor for additional training.
As a retired nurse, I can promise you this will not be your last needle stick. How you handle it in the future will depend on your knowledge base for risks.
I wish you the best in a wonderful career.
RW
You are definitely overreacting and no testing was necessary in this situation.
Any testing you have done now or in 3 or 6 months will be done ONLY to put YOUR mind at rest, not to test for HIV. These tests will all be negative because there was no risk.
I'm sure your curriculum will eventually encompass HIV Prevention and I would hope that will ease your mind, as we both know that knowledge is power.
If you are still having anxiety about HIV, you need to discuss this with your nursing supervisor for additional training.
As a retired nurse, I can promise you this will not be your last needle stick. How you handle it in the future will depend on your knowledge base for risks.
I wish you the best in a wonderful career.
RW
6 Comments
Thanks for your comment. I forgot to mention that the other student had been "milking" the patient's finger to draw blood. I was worried about the risk of the blood touching my hand because I'm not exactly sure of what non-intact skin means.
My first question would be why weren't you wearing gloves? ANY time there is the possibility of exposure to blood, or any body fluid, you wear gloves.
The short answer to your question is that a hang nail is not considered an "open wound." Do you even know if the other student actually touched your hangnail with the patients blood? Regardless........this is just NOT how HIV is contracted.
Your question is a good one. I'm sure you're paying quite a bit to attend nursing school and you should ask your nursing instructor for the answer.
The short answer to your question is that a hang nail is not considered an "open wound." Do you even know if the other student actually touched your hangnail with the patients blood? Regardless........this is just NOT how HIV is contracted.
Your question is a good one. I'm sure you're paying quite a bit to attend nursing school and you should ask your nursing instructor for the answer.
I wasn't wearing gloves because I was just passing another student a glucose test strip. I was observing when I noticed she needed another test strip because the first test was inaccurate. Also, the area that I'm taking about is the side of my finger where the skin was peeled off due to a previous hang nail. The skin was pink, but never bled. To answer your question, I'm not 100% sure if blood got on my finger, but I just wanted to be cautious because if it did I saw that the CDC says there is a low risk for non-intact skin.
You never had a risk for HIV from this encounter.
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.
You're welcome. While I can definitely understand your concerns regarding HIV, especially since those of us working in the health care field are at the highest risk for exposure, the very best way to deal with your fears is through education. The more you know, the less you have to fear. I know as a third semester nursing student how overwhelmed you can get, but any time you have a few minutes to spare, one of the most educational sites I can recommend is THIS ONE! If you come here to the HIV Prevention Forum and just read the posts and the responses, you will learn more about the real world of HIV than from the CDC. I guarantee you that.
If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them for you.
good luck with your training!
RW
If you have any questions, I'll be happy to try and answer them for you.
good luck with your training!
RW
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