Question to Nurses and Phlobotmosist?
Question:
I am always afraid when I go for a blood draw that the needle they will use on me will be used by mistake on me after it has been used on an HIV positive patient and I will get infected. I always watch the needle and the barrel of the syringe to make sure there is no blood showing...If I dont see any blood, does it mean I am safe? Because I see that after the blood draw, there is always blood left in the syringe and on the needle and it is visible. Am I being paranoid over nothing?
Answers:
after a needle is used on you it is thrown into a plastic container for disposale..a fresh brand new needle is taken out of a sealed package right before your blood draw and was never used on anybody else
A fresh new needle is used for every patient. Every needle that comes out of the pack is sterile. They go right into the garbage after it is used on you. Needles now a days have a plastic locking cap that go over them when they are done being used so the phlebotomist or nurse doesn't accidentally stick themselves. It locks and can never be used again. Either way they all go into the garbage.
You are definitly paranoid...As much as you don't want a previously used needle, we don't want to have a used syringe sitting around either.
We use it and toss it into a red bin that cannot be accessed.
If you are that scared about it, ask to see the sealed needles that they will be using. They will understand and you will feel much better.
Unless you are living in a third world country, needles are ALWAYS destroyed after a single use. So relax.
Yes...you're being paranoid. Every used needle is disposed of properly in a tamper proof container after its one and only use. Hospitals and clinics have strict guidelines set up by Occupational Health and Safety that requires that all needles are used only once and are disposed of properly. So you can rest assured that your local clinic is using a sterile needle each time you come in for lab work and that needle is disposed of right away.
Didn't you understand the answers which you got last night?
A brand new needle is used every time and then thrown away.
Repeat: A brand new needle is used every time and then thrown away.
I want you to write this 500 times.
Usually when donating blood, the nurse will open the sterile needle in front of you so you know that it is new, and she will dispose of it in a HAZARD bag by the side of you, in most countries HIV + patients refrain from giving blood.
A new sterile needle is used each time, they are sealed, once used they and any any contaminated items such as the syringe are placed in a "sharps box" for incineration.
More Questions & Answers...