Sliced finger whilst in hospital

[George Isaac]

So there's a broken sign on a nursing station door, unfortunately made out of glass, and I sliced my finger right across it while trying to stop the door from closing.

I have severe anxiety and known to be a neurotic hypochondriac. I've been doing research about workplace exposure to bloodborne pathogens and I can't really find anything relating to my specific situation (i.e. non-fingerstick workplace injury). Can anyone help me out? I'm on the verge of freaking out!

 

[sonofva]

Just wrap the cut up with Cavi Wipes.

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[Psai]

Consult plastics for negative pressure wound vac.

 

[Tenk]

I won't give you a direct answer but go read about how long these viruses are virulent outside the body on something like a piece of glass and you'll have your answer.

 

[Druggernaut]

The odds of HIV transmission after a needle stick from a patient known to have the disease is about 1/300. You can extrapolate from that how you like, and talk to your employee health people as well.

 

[KinesiologyNerd]

I mean it's not like every surface in the hospital is covered in HIV and hepatitis...

 

[Apollyon]

Been on SDN for over two years, and asking for medical advice. Should know better.

 

[TheComebacKid]

You's gots the c. diffs.

 

[d2305]

Put some Merthiolate on it.

 

[BoardingDoc]

This reminds me of the thread where the person was asking if they should get treated because a needle touched their skin while wearing a glove ... without puncturing the needle or the glove ... but they think they saw a scratch on a different part of their hand later that day.

 

[Angry Birds]

You need to amputate the arm really quickly, otherwise you turn into a walker.

 

[Greenbbs]

Grayscale

 

[George Isaac]

LOL! I was seriously concerned about HCV. I found several articles and studies that found HCV may remain on a surface outside of a host for six weeks at room temp. But, I guess gotta wait and see what happens :/ Thanks for replies though!

 

[shoal007]

Sorry about all the snarky comments. But we cannot provide medical advice without a doctor patient relationship. Please see employee health and or your doctor.

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[gro2001]

So there's a broken sign on a nursing station door, unfortunately made out of glass, and I sliced my finger right across it while trying to stop the door from closing.

I have severe anxiety and known to be a neurotic hypochondriac. I've been doing research about workplace exposure to bloodborne pathogens and I can't really find anything relating to my specific situation (i.e. non-fingerstick workplace injury). Can anyone help me out? I'm on the verge of freaking out!

As others have said, we can't provide medical advice.

However, I do just want to chime in and say that you need to do a few things other than seek medical care:

1) Talk to your supervisor about the event and make sure an incident report is filled out about the event. If you are a resident, your supervisor might not know about the proper procedures (because physicians are typically clueless about this kind of stuff), so ask the ED nursing director how to get this done.

2) Even if you seek care elsewhere, make sure to also go to the employee health clinic and follow their instructions.

3) If the dangerous sign has not been removed yet, reach out to the head of facilities management and tell them about the incident. They should remove or fix the sign so that it's no longer dangerous.

No matter how minor, this is a workplace injury and should be treated as such.