Three years of nursing plus one year of clinicals, and I got my first dirty needle stick last night.

It happened after working for 14.5 hours. I was cleaning up an apheresis treatment set-up. I had taken over the treatment from another nurse. He used a needle at a junction where I prefer to use a stopcock. He also used a needle without a safety device. Grrr.

I slipped while trying to detach it for disposal in the sharps bin. A little poke can generate a lot of hubbub and paperwork. They did a rapid HIV on te patient that came back negative. This morning I had blood draw at my occupational health clinic. My manager has been very helpful and supportive in figuring out all the paperwork. The patient had a hepatitis panel drawn earlier this month which was also negative, but they redrew for protocol.

I'm certain nothing will come of this. She's clean, I'm vaccinated, yada yada. But boy does it suck to get a needlestick. You can't help but feel super stressed.

I can't wait for this summer to end.