Needle stick and punished on grade

[Medstudentquest]

I had something very similar happen to me, and I received pretty much the same treatment from the hospital admin.

The peds attending did a draw on a patient and decided to talk to the parents while holding the needle in her hand. The child kicked her hand the the needle went straight into mine. I reported it right away but got a very chilly response from the admin. on duty (it was a night shift). They told me not to worry about it, not to ask the patient to get tested, and to not push the issue. I told them they were crazy if they thought I wasn't going to have this properly documented, I was certainly going to ask the patient to get tested, and I expected them to cover my testing as well since it was the attendings irresponsible behavior that led to the injury.

When the realized that I was deadly serious, they started the report and ordered a 2nd draw (with parental consent) on the child, but slow tracked it from there on out. I had to wait more than 8 hrs for them to finish the paperwork and draw the blood while the paperwork clearly said that a draw and decision on AVPT should be made within the "golden hour" after a needle stick injury.

The rest of that shift and the next few days I got nothing but icy glances and daggers stared at me from the admin and attendings, they looked at me like I was some kind of traitor. Fortunately this was an un-graded preceptorship that I was doing during some downtime between my graded rotations, but they still placed a letter in my hospital file (that I wasn't allowed to see) about me being a "troublemaker" and to "watch out". The only reason I ever found about it was that one of the nurses I was friends with looked into it for me as she knew about the existence of these "hospital files" from previous incidences where they have done something like this.

In the end, you have to look out for yourself, push the issue with the hospital admin. (go as high as you can go, someone up there somewhere has to be a decent person), make them do what they are supposed to do in these situations, and be prepared for some kind of backlash even if you did nothing wrong. My best suggestion would be to push the issue with the academic side of the school/hospital. Go to the Dean/Academic Provost/Etc... I am sure they are more concerned with the academic malfeasance of the hospital than the people directly involved with the hospital. If that fails, unless you are prepared to turn this into a legal issue, you probably aren't going to get very far.

Exactly! Your experience sounds very similar to mine. I.e.: don't report it, once you do, we'll make your life miserable. I"m sorry that happened to you as well. It sucks when we as students are on the end of the totem pole and are treated like this at times. It shouldn't be this way.

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[dpmd]

I still think the OP's story sounds like BS. I'm not saying there are never attempt to cover stuff up, but the details just don't add up. Also, you state your other evals have all been great, but you posted this previously.

Hi,

I am also doing poorly on shelf exams. IT's so frustrating because I keep getting outstandings on the clinical portion but do poorly on the shelves which takes my outstandings down to advanced. Also I just got my peds shelf exam score and I did not pass by two points. I feel terrible terrible. Should I drop out of med school? I feel so stupid about this. I never have time to finish these exams and I feel like the dumbest thing on this planet. How can I improve? I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.

I mean I have always had a hard time with standarized testing and because English is not my first language I read very slowly so I have to read a question several times. Can someone please offer me some suggestions? At this point I really feel like dropping out.

Needlesticks are an important issue, and it is important that accurate information is out there. Several posters have tried to give that info, just in case there actually is some school out there that doesn't teach their students the proper protocol (our school definitely did, and it was mentioned in my paperwork when I went on aways as well). Sometimes people may want to avoid getting in trouble and might try to talk someone out of reporting (or the student feels like they may get in trouble if they report). I have know people who have been stuck, and I personally escorted one through the employee health process (when I was the supervisor for that unit, back when I was a nurse). It can be an emotional event, especially if the person is stuck by someone else. However, if you know the policies and procedures for your place of employment (once you are an employee), or for your school (which you should make it your priority to learn at any location where you might be at risk for exposure, even if they don't spoonfeed you the info), you will know what to do even if everyone else is running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

 

[Medstudentquest]

What you do is your choice. What has happened to me is true and unfortunate. My clinical evals have been awsome except for the grade that I got in Ob which like I said it reflects this incident. There is no way I could continuously get Outstandings on my clinical evals and get an outstanding prior to the incident happening in Ob as well and then get a proficient. As this other poster showed, things like this happen all the time unfortunately. His/her experience is very very similar.

What does the shelf issue have to do with anything? Yes I have difficulty with shelf exams because I don't get to complete them since I read slow. Does that make me unworthy of fair treatment when I get stuck?

 

[ocean11]

You must not have read what I posted. I have been going back and forth with these people for months because they did not test the patient, paid for my bill or cared at all what happened to me. Because I care for my health and wanted to make sure the patient was negative, and they were upset I did not drop the issue, they screwed my grade over. Both problems are infuriating. What's not to understand?

Dude, I feel your pain, I was stuck last week. But my residents were pretty cool about it. I got tested right away, patient was tested too. Unfortunately, patient came back Hep C positive, which REALLY sucks!!!! but since your thing happened a few months ago, get yourself tested for HIV, Hep C/B to calm your fears. As for your evals... if everything else is good, you don't need to worry! the dean will take it all into consideration.

Good Luck! I know its hard ... hang in there...

Ocean11

 

[kchan99]

(Before I begin my post, I have to mention that I have not started med school yet, but I have a number of friends who are in the last two years of med school. I will be starting med school in the fall.)

I have some comments:
-I am surprised that students are not talking among themselves about how their classmates who have had needlesticks have been treated.
-If a student with a needlestick went to a health care provider and got a script for the prophylaxis, wouldn't the prophylaxis and the visit be covered in a decent student health insurance plan if the institution where the injury occurred refused to pay for the treatment?

 

[Dr JPH]

Why are you being mean and sarcastic with me? I have done nothing to you.

You have wasted our time.

If you are half as annoying in real life as you are here I would have stuck you myself.

 

[closertofine]

A resident stuck me once during a surgery and a SCRUB TECH was on the phone reporting it before I even had a chance to say anything! (Fortunately all tests came up negative). Maybe this isn't how it works everywhere...the attending seemed much less enthusiastic about calling it in...but at least I knew what to do since we had approximately 500 talks on needlestick injuries before we were allowed in an OR.

 

[tkim]

If you don't believe the OP, then refrain from posting. Obviously, people's experiences vary, as there are other people posting similar negative encounters. So, if you can offer some advice, please do. Otherwise, no more attacks, please.

 

[Tired]

If you don't believe the OP, then refrain from posting. Obviously, people's experiences vary, as there are other people posting similar negative encounters. So, if you can offer some advice, please do. Otherwise, no more attacks, please.

Will do.

In the future I will refrain from calling B.S. when I see it, and stand quietly by as misinformation and scare tactics are spread. That way the med student forums can become the same pile o' lies that the pre-allo section wallows in.

 

[RockShox]

If you don't believe the OP, then refrain from posting. Obviously, people's experiences vary, as there are other people posting similar negative encounters. So, if you can offer some advice, please do. Otherwise, no more attacks, please.

So let me get this straight...

Anyone is free to say what they want be it truth, lies, or a Moore-esque documentary and as long as they are the OP. However, if anyone has any comment to make other then sycophantic bubbles they need to keep there mouth shut? I hope that this does not become a standard.

I am sorry but if you post stuff on a public forum you are going to get some scrutiny, esp from people who are trained to seperate truth from fiction.

What really did not help was when people did write valid advice and the OP responded with fanatical ramblings of how people must not be med students or experienced or "you must not know how to think" and such.

 

[Dr JPH]

What really did not help was when people did write valid advice and the OP responded with fanatical ramblings of how people must not be med students or experienced or "you must not know how to think" and such.

Attacks from the OP are ok.

 

[tkim]

Will do.

In the future I will refrain from calling B.S. when I see it, and stand quietly by as misinformation and scare tactics are spread. That way the med student forums can become the same pile o' lies that the pre-allo section wallows in.

So let me get this straight...

Anyone is free to say what they want be it truth, lies, or a Moore-esque documentary and as long as they are the OP. However, if anyone has any comment to make other then sycophantic bubbles they need to keep there mouth shut? I hope that this does not become a standard.

I am sorry but if you post stuff on a public forum you are going to get some scrutiny, esp from people who are trained to seperate truth from fiction.

What really did not help was when people did write valid advice and the OP responded with fanatical ramblings of how people must not be med students or experienced or "you must not know how to think" and such.

Your initial posts were very supportive and offered some great info. It's the fourth, fifth, and sixth responses that left something to be desired. You don't believe the guy - fine. That's been made pretty clear. Eponym posted his own experiences that were similar. I don't see you guys ripping into him.

Obviously this thread has devolved into accusations. So closed it be.