How do you deal with your fear of blood bourne pathogens?

[Tofurkey]

I'm applying to med school and I love everything about medicine except this. I like blood and guts, being around sick people, and performing exams. I've volunteered a lot and have experience with this.

However, I am scared to death of needle sticks and/or other exposures to blood bourne pathogens. How would others rate their fear and what have you done about it, if anything? This is a somewhat paralyzing fear. I know the risks are low, but they're still there, and they can ruin the rest of your life. That thought really scares the bejeebers out of me.

By the way, my spouse, when he was in med school, never had to do a single blood draw on a patient or anything, for that matter, involving bodily fluids. I would think that's unusual.

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[bewitched1081]

well this might not do anything to settle your fears but in reality every second that you live, you risk exposure to things that can ruin your life. i mean your stove can blow up in your face while youre in the kitchen or somebody could hit you while youre driving and paralyze you for life. airborne pathogens are another thing. you have absolutely no control over what happens to you or around you. now that can make you go crazy or you can find another way to have peace with it.

 

[Haybrant]

dont tell anyone, but sometime when im dissecting rats in my lab and im hungry, ill bite off a chunk heart or liver; which organ depends on my mood; that'll get you over your fear....

I'm applying to med school and I love everything about medicine except this. I like blood and guts, being around sick people, and performing exams. I've volunteered a lot and have experience with this.

However, I am scared to death of needle sticks and/or other exposures to blood bourne pathogens. How would others rate their fear and what have you done about it, if anything? This is a somewhat paralyzing fear. I know the risks are low, but they're still there, and they can ruin the rest of your life. That thought really scares the bejeebers out of me.

By the way, my spouse, when he was in med school, never had to do a single blood draw on a patient or anything, for that matter, involving bodily fluids. I would think that's unusual.

 

[Cat's Meow]

I'm applying to med school and I love everything about medicine except this. I like blood and guts, being around sick people, and performing exams. I've volunteered a lot and have experience with this.

However, I am scared to death of needle sticks and/or other exposures to blood bourne pathogens. How would others rate their fear and what have you done about it, if anything? This is a somewhat paralyzing fear. I know the risks are low, but they're still there, and they can ruin the rest of your life. That thought really scares the bejeebers out of me.

By the way, my spouse, when he was in med school, never had to do a single blood draw on a patient or anything, for that matter, involving bodily fluids. I would think that's unusual.

i don't have to worry about this, because i'm a vampire.

no, seriously. there are a bunch of cable shows on the learning channel that show hella surgeries. watch, and you will tolerate.

 

[Creatine]

Triple-gloving?

 

[Graat]

The first month that my friend did rotations, another med student gave a patient an injection, and then turned around and poked my friend in the arm by accident. He had to have tests run and stuff to make sure he didn't catch anything, and all the docs and profs basically just shrugged and said "it happens". As a good doc (at least in med school, I guess you can choose a less messy specialty) you should expect to be up to your eyeballs in bodily fluids because that's what it takes to treat people sometimes. It scares me too, but it comes with the territory. I guess I'm not giving any advice here on how to deal with it, but I don't think there's much you can do besides deciding whether or not this fear is big enough to make you switch career paths.

 

[TexPre-Med]

Everyone has fears. What separates the men from the boys, is how you handle it in a crucial situation. (insert women and girls for the ladies). Fear is all mental so you can learn to control it. While a little different, I am terribly afraid of bees. Snakes, rats, and spiders are no problem, but bees are frekin scary. However, if it meant saving a life, I would gladly walk into a room full of those evil flying things. The moral is: fears do not help you with anything. In fact, I believe that if you worry about every needle you see in the hospital, you are much more likely to get stuck because you aren't paying enough attention to the actions around you.

 

[PookieGirl]

And to protect myself, I wear 2 pairs of gloves and work in a hood.

However, once I pricked myself with a piece of metal that I run blood through--both normal and HIV+ blood. The metal went through my gloves and pierced my skin. Luckily, that day I had been working with blood from a normal donor. I cleaned out the wound with soap and water, then alcohol. I was sent to occupational health thereafter and filled out a report. The nurse discussed with me whether I wanted to get the so called "normal" blood tested or not. I said yes, even though I was pretty sure the blood was normal. The blood was from a coworker who donates her blood frequently but you never know, I reasoned.

That said, in order for her blood to get tested, that coworker needed to consent to give blood. If she did not consent, I'd would not know for sure if her blood was normal. And the rule is, at least at the hospital that I work in, that I could not myself ask her to consent. It all has to be very professional.

I was also given the option to take PEP--post-exposure prophylaxis. Basically this is a regimen of antiretrovirals that if taken very early on after exposure (within the first 72 hours after) can prevent infection. I declined because a) I was pretty sure this person was not infected, b) the actual risk of me getting infected through a needlestick even if the blood was HIV+ is 3 in 1000, and c) the drugs have serious side effects and toxicity and make people who take them very sick, especially when they begin to take them.

In the end, the donor got tested, turned out HIV negative, and so did I.

The actual number of people who get HIV from needlesticks and splashes is VERY LOW worldwide, although it occasionally happens. You can look up studies yourself on the CDC website. I do not think you need to be overly worried. Just take the necessary precautions of wearing gloves and faceguards and you will be fine.

 

[UNOStudent01]

I don't fear blood bourne pathogens...blood bourne pathogens fear me.

 

[bkmonkey]

I'm a total hypochondriac. I feel like there are germs all over the place. They're all out to get me...

 

[phleebie]

i currently work as a phlebotomist so i draw blood from patients 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week. the only thing you can do is adhere to the necessary precautions: always wear gloves, wash your hands frequently, and activate the safety device on the needle as soon as you are done with it (this device comes on all the new needles now to prevent such accidental sticks). of course, freak occurences do occur, but this is just one of the risks that come with the job.

 

[dnelsen]

i currently work as a phlebotomist so i draw blood from patients 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week. the only thing you can do is adhere to the necessary precautions: always wear gloves, wash your hands frequently, and activate the safety device on the needle as soon as you are done with it (this device comes on all the new needles now to prevent such accidental sticks). of course, freak occurences do occur, but this is just one of the risks that come with the job.

Is the safety device you speak of work by retracting the needle back up into the syringe? My wife just got a shot and she said that after they pushed the plunger all the way down, the needle snaped back up into the syringe somehow.

 

[phleebie]

Is the safety device you speak of work by retracting the needle back up into the syringe? My wife just got a shot and she said that after they pushed the plunger all the way down, the needle snaped back up into the syringe somehow.

yea some needles, like butterfly needles, have a button you can push when you're done that automatically retracts the needle. other needles, like the vacutainer needles that collect blood in those small multicolored tubes, have a plastic covering that manually snaps over the needle.

 

[PookieGirl]

yea some needles, like butterfly needles, have a button you can push when you're done that automatically retracts the needle. other needles, like the vacutainer needles that collect blood in those small multicolored tubes, have a plastic covering that manually snaps over the needle.

I also draw blood but never recap the needles. I pop the needle right into the sharps container right away because in my opinion when you go to cap a needle you're inviting another opportunity to get stuck. People have differing opinions however.

 

[exmike]

looks like you'll be a radiologist.

 

[PookieGirl]

If you meant me, I'm not sure why. I have no intention of being a radiologist. It's just easier and to me seems safer to just toss the needle into a sharps container. Different story if there isn't a sharps container around. But I can tell you right now I have no intention of going into radiology. ID instead.

 

[v-tach]

I can certainly understand why bloodborne pathogens would make a person nervous. The main thing is to take precautions, like making sure you've been vaccinated against Hepatitis B, wearing your gloves (and face shield if splashes could be a problem) and just generally paying attention to what you and other people are doing so you're less likely to get stuck in the first place. It is really quite unusual for people in a healthcare setting to contract these diseases--as a previous poster said, you're at a much greater risk of a serious accident while driving to work etc. than getting sick from contact with bodily fluids.

 

[roja]

Its really quite simple- Use universal precautions and assume all needles are infected. It will keep you wary and cautious of yourself and others. Always know where your sharps are and dispose of them properly.. Always wear your gloves. ALWAYS.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Is the safety device you speak of work by retracting the needle back up into the syringe? My wife just got a shot and she said that after they pushed the plunger all the way down, the needle snaped back up into the syringe somehow.

and always immediately dispose of the needle (still retracted) in a "sharps" container so no one accidentally jabs themself with it later

 

[Psycho Doctor]

Its really quite simple- Use universal precautions and assume all needles are infected. It will keep you wary and cautious of yourself and others. Always know where your sharps are and dispose of them properly.. Always wear your gloves. ALWAYS.

that's true, everyone should use universal precautions. and for these same reasons there shouldn't be an stigma against physicians who have the misfortune of already being infected by one of these viruses.

 

[Tiddly of Winks]

rubbers

 

[MizzouDrWannabe]

Have experienced a dirty needle stick, it is always something that is in your mind. However, you have to remember that its very very rare to get HIV from a single needle stick. A scalpel injury would increase the risk, I would assume. Also, every hospital has great follow up. If the patient is infected you will go on antiviral therapy. Even with that, you could still get it, but as long as you are careful you won't. I wasn't being careful when I stuck myself and now I"m much more aware.

 

[phleebie]

I also draw blood but never recap the needles. I pop the needle right into the sharps container right away because in my opinion when you go to cap a needle you're inviting another opportunity to get stuck. People have differing opinions however.

wow - thats pretty startling that you dont use the safety device. are you just accustomed to the old type of needles that didn't have the cap? i work with a woman who is like that - she doesn't like them either, but only because she thinks they make the needles "clunky". anyways, you can flip the safety cap on with your thumb pretty easily and, if done properly, shouldn't be that huge of risk. and as you probably know, those damn sharps containers can get clogged way too easily, and having exposed needles sticking out from the opening is a much larger risk, imho.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

rubbers

just don't ever reuse them

 

[neoncandle]

We work with HIV+ pts in the ER to and they don't always know they are.. and some that know they are, don't tell us.. if you get pricked there is also some kind of medicine you can take (nasty side-effects) that is supposed to greatly decrease your risk of getting the virus, even with exposure.

 

[Tiddly of Winks]

just don't ever reuse them

doh!

noted