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Labcorp Test Incident
My doctor had sent me to labcorp (Michigan, United States) to have some blood drawn. I arrived in the middle of the day so there were definitely patients processed before me... for some reason I felt a little bit uncomfortable about the whole ordeal. Can someone comment on these observations? :
- I noticed the nurse didn't use the traditional long caped needle, I think she used the butterfly variety with a tube at the end. I wasn't paying extreme attention as she was working pretty fast, but I never notice her uncap anything.
- Also, after the procedure noticed she was only wearing one glove for some reason. Didn't notice if she had 2 on when she was drawing the blood...
So here are my questions:
- Are the same safety features present in other needles (to prevent reuse), and proper wrapping and packaging to prevent sterilization present in the butterfly variety?
- Is there risk from poor adherance to universal precautions like proper gloves on both hands?
I'm reading some fairly bad reviews and impressions of this company, so I'm naturally worried about slopiness and lack of infection control.
Thanks. Sorry if I sound paranoid.
- I noticed the nurse didn't use the traditional long caped needle, I think she used the butterfly variety with a tube at the end. I wasn't paying extreme attention as she was working pretty fast, but I never notice her uncap anything.
- Also, after the procedure noticed she was only wearing one glove for some reason. Didn't notice if she had 2 on when she was drawing the blood...
So here are my questions:
- Are the same safety features present in other needles (to prevent reuse), and proper wrapping and packaging to prevent sterilization present in the butterfly variety?
- Is there risk from poor adherance to universal precautions like proper gloves on both hands?
I'm reading some fairly bad reviews and impressions of this company, so I'm naturally worried about slopiness and lack of infection control.
Thanks. Sorry if I sound paranoid.
Best Answer
I concur with nursegirl 100%,you have nothing to worry about from the situation you described.
Thank you nursegirl, your answer put me at ease. I think my anxiety level has been a bit too high lately. Thanks again for your feedback.
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The one glove thing is no big deal. Again, health care workers use gloves to protect themselves. It isn't mandatory. A lot of nurses will wear one glove, or rip the index finger off of the glove on their dominant hand because it is hard to palpate a vein through t glove.
Again, you have NO worries here.