Aa
Healthcare risk/very scared
I was recently stuck by a pair of scissors that came from a suture kit. I am an er tech and part of my "responsibity" is to put the non disposable instruments in water and disinfectant and scrub them and prepare them for sterilization. Well the scissors that I was poked with (in the thumb) had been in the solution with other instruments well over 8 hours probably more like 12 to 24 hours but I was scrubbing the scissors with a little scrub brush and my hand slipped causing me to poke myself in the thumb! As I was cleaning the darn things I noticed there was no blood or anything on the scissors that I could see but i was thinking to myself how bad it would suck to stick myself and them BAM out of nowhere my hand slipped and I poked myself. I had to do all the testing that is required , but the thing that ***** is that it was an unknown source so Im freaking out not knowing what to do! I just wanna cry. How long can viruses, bacteria live in water/disinfectant? I am so scared i wanna cry. Can anyone give me any advice?
I can understand your concern, and I would personally question your supervisor about the solution issue, and the risk associated with their practices. FIRST of all...MOST of those types of things come in disposable kits these days. I have actually never worked with any type of suture/staple removal kit that wasn't totally throw away.
SOME equipment (as in the OR) of course would not be pitchable...but I have never heard of anyone having to scrub a sharps item...NEVER. They are autoclaved after being soaked. The handling is at a serious minimum!!!!
Lastly, there ARE solutions made for medical facility use that pretty much kills most troublesome organisms. Either, like you said...the IN is WRONG...or the place you work is just irresponsible. If they're going to soak the equip...then they need to be using something that will basically cover all of the nasty bugs.
I don't blame you for how you feel...and really, I would speak with someone in management....they have a potential liability issue on their hands. Asking an employee to handle soiled sharps is one thing...but expecting someone to scrub the stiff? Outrageous.
And again...those types of things are available in disposable kits. You use the stuff...and everything goes into the sharps box. Maybe you can shed some light for them. Sheesh!
Good luck to you.....
SOME equipment (as in the OR) of course would not be pitchable...but I have never heard of anyone having to scrub a sharps item...NEVER. They are autoclaved after being soaked. The handling is at a serious minimum!!!!
Lastly, there ARE solutions made for medical facility use that pretty much kills most troublesome organisms. Either, like you said...the IN is WRONG...or the place you work is just irresponsible. If they're going to soak the equip...then they need to be using something that will basically cover all of the nasty bugs.
I don't blame you for how you feel...and really, I would speak with someone in management....they have a potential liability issue on their hands. Asking an employee to handle soiled sharps is one thing...but expecting someone to scrub the stiff? Outrageous.
And again...those types of things are available in disposable kits. You use the stuff...and everything goes into the sharps box. Maybe you can shed some light for them. Sheesh!
Good luck to you.....
I understand this is her job and she has to cover all bases with me, she also said if it were her she would'nt be to worried about it. Im not sure whats wrong with this woman, I think she likes to scare people. Im refusing to clean these suture kits after use anymore, because Im not putting myself in that situation again knowing the solution supposedly doesn't kill anything. Im just glad there wasnt any fresh blood on it.
You're right...your risk is low. The IC nurse actually MAY be correct on the disinfectant thing...I'd have to research it. SOME types of disinfectants do not kill viruses, specifically HIV. You would think in that type of setting that they would certainly use one that would cover all bases, though.
HOWEVER....simply having the blood/fluid be "outside of the host" for that long of a period of time GREATLY reduces the risk...if not takes it away completely.
Also...keep in mind that all facilities have pretty strict exposure policies, any place I've worked at requires testing out to 6 months, even though 3 months would be sufficient. All that is is a "CYA" thing for them, ya know? Just go along with it, and test when they recommend.
You'll be just fine.
HOWEVER....simply having the blood/fluid be "outside of the host" for that long of a period of time GREATLY reduces the risk...if not takes it away completely.
Also...keep in mind that all facilities have pretty strict exposure policies, any place I've worked at requires testing out to 6 months, even though 3 months would be sufficient. All that is is a "CYA" thing for them, ya know? Just go along with it, and test when they recommend.
You'll be just fine.
Tell her to get better educated on HIV
No way no how would it survive especially in a disinfectent cleanser
No way no how would it survive especially in a disinfectent cleanser
The infection control nurse is a whack job and is telling me how at risk I am because disinfectant does not kill anything merely dilutes the virus. She is scaring the **** out of me. I know these scissors had been used previously, but they also had been in water and disinfectant for at least 8 hours, so Im having to do the whole 6 month work up on my hep b, hep c, and hiv. I know Im a low risk, but she freaked me out
Hiv does not survive long outside the body from a few seconds to maybe 3 hours if that. But you also said they where in a cleaning solution. End of story it would kill the virus on contact. No risk here I am surprised you are even having to test but procedure is what it is goodluck
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