Skin contact with patient blood
Dear expert,
I am an intern at the hospital. Today, during a blood draw, I only wore a glove on my right hand, as I could barely feel the vein with my gloved left hand. Unfortunately, after the blood was drawn from the butterfly needle, blood leaked out when I activated the safety mechanism. I am not exactly sure why this happened, but it got on my hand and fingers. I did not get pricked. I immediately disinfected with Sterilium in the patient's room and then thoroughly washed my hands and disinfected them multiple times in the nursing room. Apart from a small superficial burn on the back of my right hand, which is already well crusted, I have no injuries on my hands.
The attending physician said I should not skip wearing gloves in the future (which I definitely will not do anymore! No matter how difficult it is to feel the vein... I have learned from this incident...), but otherwise no further actions are necessary (like seeing a doctor or similar), as an infection with Hep C or HIV through intact skin is highly unlikely. The patient is 89 years old and besides having myasthenia gravis and mild non-inflammatory hepatic steatosis, she has no known pre-existing conditions.
Now my question: Do you also agree with the attending physician's assessment? Was my handling (except for not using the glove) after the blood contact correct? Should I get tested? And do I need to practice safer sex? Or am I just overreacting in panic?
Thank you in advance for your response,
Best regards
