• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

Nurse - needle stuck from a patient

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

grizli

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? OH

Hello,

What are the suggestions and proper course of action if a nurse gets stuck with a needle on a job? It was an accident: patient jerk and nurse got stuck.
There are typical procedures for that in a hospital and they have drawn blood, etc to find if anything transferred. However, some diseases, like HIV, hep do not show up for months. Obviously some can become serious life-time issues, while others can be cured or managed. But it can be very expensive.

Not sure what to go from here or how to proceed. Please advise.

Thank you.
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
What are the suggestions and proper course of action if a nurse gets stuck with a needle on a job? It was an accident: patient jerk and nurse got stuck. Not sure what to go from here or how to proceed.
Are you asking medically or financially?

Medically - It should be obvious that she should monitor the situation with periodic testing to see if she caught something.

Financially - If she did catch something her only recourse against her employer would be workers compensation. She could, of course, sue the patient but she would have to prove that the patient's negligence caused her condition. An involuntary reaction from a patient is probably not going to get there.
 

FlyingRon

Senior Member
As PayrolGuy points out, in Ohio, employers are required to have a written exposure plan and you should have been trained as to what happens.
 

FarmerJ

Senior Member
Griz your employer should arrange for STD /HIV- blood borne pathogen testing to establish a baseline then the test will have to be done again. At the worst if the first test were to all be negative then later on other testing were to show a positive result then it would become easier to establish that the conversion from negative to positive was likely due to the needle stick exposure . Have you spoken to a Attorney about your legal options should you test positive later on ?
 
Last edited:

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top