I am NOT a nurse......nor do i portray one on tv, but some things are just so basic.....if a needle goes through your skin, it should not be used to go through anyone else`s skin......oh yeah and WASH YOUR HANDS!
I spoke to a fellow vet who got a notice. They told him it was the finger prick blood test device that was used on multiple patients without disposing of the lancet tip.
As a lab rat, let me just say, nurses should not be doing point of care testing. They do not have lab instincts to prevent name/ tests mixups, no experience correlating labs to diagnosis.. and take a lot of shortcuts. Not all nurses, but a lot of RNs now are associate level and lack the thorough training of BSRNs. I work with great nurses of both levels, I also work with many who mislabel and shortcut lab specimens. It is not their place to do this, but boy can POC add to the bill. No offense to any nurse on the board.. I could never, ever do nursing in any way, shape or form.
Of course NO one will get fired. You can’t possibly fire a gov. worker. Other than that not too much to worry about. HIV doesn’t cause AIDs so if your healthy, and have an intact immune system and don’t do drugs, you’ll be just fine. As for Hep C, all patientsd have the same life span whether they are treated or not. Most just receive steroids. I wouldn’t worry too much.