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Home Health & Hospice Week

Occupational Safety:

Know Your Options for Managing Needlestick Injuries

Published on Wed Apr 21, 2010

You should consider HIV prophylaxis for an employee in this scenario. Picture this: You're administering an injection to a patient who jerks away and the contaminated needle jabs your hand. What you do next can have a major impact on whether you end up with a blood-borne infection. Key: The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention "recommends that all healthcare workers who have a percutaneous or mucous membrane exposure to blood and body fluids seek occupational health counseling as soon as possible," says CDC's Tara MacCannell, an epidemiologist. That means you need to get advice within a couple of hours post-exposure at least -- "and certainly within 24 hours." Follow This Decision Tree 1. If you can identify the patient involved in the staff person's exposure, you can ask the patient (or his responsible party) permission for the patient to undergo testing for HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV). [...]
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