Healthcare Personal Protective Equipment

Case Study: A physician was drawing blood from a patient in an examination room of an HIV clinic. Because the room had no sharps disposal container, she recapped the needle using the one-handed technique. While the physician was sorting waste materials from lab materials, the cap fell off the phlebotomy needle, which subsequently penetrated her right index finger. The physician's baseline HIV test was negative. She began post-exposure measures to control the spread of the disease with zidovudine, but discontinued it after 10 days because of adverse side effects. Approximately two weeks after the needlestick, the physician developed flu-like symptoms consistent with HIV infection. She was found to be positive for HIV when tested three months after the needlestick exposure [American Health Consultants 1992b].

Key Takeaways: This tragic scenario could have been avoided if a sharps disposal container had been installed in the examination room. Also, if the physician has been wearing proper PPE, such as thick gloves, when sorting through the trash, she may have avoided being stuck by the needle.