Will a superficial scratch be enough to contaminate the needle?
Hello.
Thanks for your response. I doubt the paper lid came off as they always come well seal . I will definitely by reporting it to my supervisor tomorrow. I did not see any blood in the needle part that connects to the pen but I don't know if there was any blood in the part that enters the body as it had the plastic lid on. I am more concerned about other members of the team getting scratch before me rather than the actual patient as she gets visits every morning by a team of 15 different nurses.
Hi, well I would think you would have felt the needle stick for one thing. Also, you didn't see any blood from your finger at all so it doesn't sound like an exposure. I would report it to your supervisor that there was a bare needle in there. Did the needle appear to have any blood on it? If not maybe the lid just came off? If you did get slightly stuck but no blood was entered into your blood system you are okay as well. If you are very worried you could report it and get tested in about 3 months for both HIV and HEP C. But other wise it sounds fairly low. If you did get stuck it is not likely that a 90 year old lady would have either disease and also the risk is about 0.1% for HIV. It is higher for Hep C. But overall it sounds like you weren't stuck right?
mkh9