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I went to a lab yesterday where I had blood drawn for a blood test. The nurse took a needle from the drawer, uncapped it then attached it to a tube and drew my blood. Then she recapped the needle, and threw it in the disposer and labelled the blood tube.

My question is, does it happen that sometimes the nurse may forget and by mistake recap the needle and put it in the drawer with the new needles and then reuse it again by mistake? Or will it show that the needle has been used before when she attempts to use it again (due to blood stains and other things)?

2006-07-01 02:38:36 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health Other - Health

yeah...she used a needle with a vacutainer. The needle was not wrapped. Actually all the needles were not wrapped. I didnt see any seal coz I didnt look

2006-07-01 03:19:51 · update #1

6 answers

The act of putting it into a biohazard container is such an ingrained habit that I'm sure she didn't even have to think about doing it. I am a RN and I have NEVER put a recapped needle any place except the proper container. Now, most needles even have a safety catch (so eliminate the process of recapping because there is the risk of poking yourself with the dirty needle) so then it is not possible to reuse the needle anyway. But anyway, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

2006-07-01 02:47:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

That is a bad practice recapping used needle. I never experienced that I placed a used needle in a clean needle container. I'm a nurse for many years now. It's like an instinct that used needles and syringes goes into the sharp containers. Unused needles for vacutainer has s seal on it. If the seal is already borken prior to use it should be thrown away because sterility is no guaranteen anymore. If using regular needle it should be wrapped intact. There whould be no way a nurse use needles whose wrapper is damaged or opened. I'm not saying that it doesn't happen with other nurses who have no presence of mind, so it's bette to watch what they are doing and you have the right to say something if you're in doubt.

2006-07-01 09:47:26 · answer #2 · answered by marky 3 · 0 0

The ones from the drawer should be sterile, and most should be unwrapped. If the wrapping is already opened, then she cannot use that needle. There is no way for the same needle to be used on two different people. You're okay!

2006-07-01 09:44:08 · answer #3 · answered by ... 4 · 0 0

Not a nurse but a med student that has drawn blood anyway:

We have a sharps disposal plastic device that looks like a bottle. Always sharps are thrown in there.

I personally when I see a loose unwrapped needle nobody knows where it came from, I discard it.

2006-07-01 09:47:06 · answer #4 · answered by mbestevez 7 · 0 0

needles are individually wrapped so the risk of reusing a used needle is very low. You ould almost have to do something like that on purpose. We are also much smarter than your grandparents nursing staff.

2006-07-01 09:44:01 · answer #5 · answered by Eric 2 · 0 0

That just doesn't happen,, from the beginning the training develops a routine. Prep draw trash in contaminated container,, its a habit.

2006-07-01 09:42:30 · answer #6 · answered by yeller 6 · 0 0

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