Needlestick injury

Question 1

Outline the procedure you would take following a needle stick injury accidentally inflicted on your dental nurse

Answer 1

• apologise and provide reassurance
• encourage wound to bleed
• wash would under water with soap for 5 minutes
• dry wound and cover with a plaster
• [inform patient of occurence]
• check medical records of patient for high risk infectious disease
• ask patient if they are willing to receive a blood test
• if there is a high risk of infectious disease then nurse should go to A&E
• Otherwise, nurse should report to Occupational health
• Ensure that incident is logged in the incident report database
• signpost nurse to any additional psychological support as it is a stressful time