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uppityperson

(116,036 posts)

77. I did something stupid unthinkingly as a youngish nurse back when universal precautions

Fri Oct 3, 2014, 03:49 AM

Oct 2014

were just starting to become, well, universal. I stepped into a patient's room one evening to find their iv disconnected and blood dripping down their arm onto the floor. Without thinking, I hooked the iv back to the catheter, then looked at the pt and thought "oh crap" as they were in for observation, unknown sickness. I quickly excuses myself, washed WELL, called my supervisor, went to the ER to start Hep C vaccine and make the appointments for hiv testing at varied times in the future.

It was the last time I ignored gloving.

It was so easy to do, without thinking. Now, years later, I hesitate before picking up a kleenex with blood on it from the floor of my bathroom, realizing I was the one who dropped it there, but still makes me pause. Gloves in my car, my purse, my bathroom and of course my pockets at work.

Mistakes happen. To err is human.

Researching over the last month about ebola has been good for me, helping me understand this awful and fascinating disease, learning what to be cautious and afraid of, what to not be afraid of. It may very well be something tiny that destroys a lot of us. Tiny in microscopic and/or stupid error.

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Anyone else who was around back in 1980 during the first AIDS crisis having deja vu now [View all] hedgehog Oct 2014 OP

thats exactly right..way overhyped sailfla Oct 2014 #1

You think the AIDS crisis was overhyped? cbayer Oct 2014 #32

Early on, yes it was. There was talk of people getting AIDS just from being in the same room, yellowcanine Oct 2014 #48

Sorry, but I totally disagree with this. cbayer Oct 2014 #50

It was attention the wrong way. Gays, drug injectors, Haitians were the targets. uppityperson Oct 2014 #51

That happened later. cbayer Oct 2014 #52

Your posts on this topic have been excellent. And I really appreciate them Number23 Oct 2014 #75

I was a young nurse Mojorabbit Oct 2014 #76

I did something stupid unthinkingly as a youngish nurse back when universal precautions uppityperson Oct 2014 #77

I also worked well before universal precautions were the norm Mojorabbit Oct 2014 #82

You are wrong. Well after the modes of transmission were known there was outrageous AIDs phobia. yellowcanine Oct 2014 #54

We are just talking past each other here. cbayer Oct 2014 #56

Yeah, I think the two of you are looking at different parts of the elephant jberryhill Oct 2014 #78

I think you put that exactly right. cbayer Oct 2014 #81

I remember strawberries Oct 2014 #55

I remember when there was a lot of press about Donna Mills refusing valerief Oct 2014 #59

actually a lot of people thought you had to be extremely promiscuous and "dirty" to get it.... bettyellen Oct 2014 #73

The AIDS outbreak triggered some really awful homophobia The Velveteen Ocelot Oct 2014 #2

It didn't trigger homophobia in me, but... tridim Oct 2014 #7

Yep, same here. When I was a kid about the worse was gonorrhea and crabs! RKP5637 Oct 2014 #14

I remember so well it being called the "gay disease," that only LGBT could catch it. It was RKP5637 Oct 2014 #12

it also halted, for a time, progress on LGBT civil rights . . . markpkessinger Oct 2014 #79

I thought about that very thing yesterday... LanternWaste Oct 2014 #3

I was listening to a story on NPR from Africa about the people who remove the bodies of mucifer Oct 2014 #4

They died touching the suit? I suppose someone has verified this, right? It doesn't sound right. randome Oct 2014 #6

They died because they were removing the bodies from ebola victims mucifer Oct 2014 #11

It would seem there should be some type of decontamination process to clean the suit before RKP5637 Oct 2014 #17

Someone must have been in a hurry, maybe got too hot. They do spray the suits with bleach before LiberalArkie Oct 2014 #21

Yep, probably what happened. It seems the buildup of heat in the suits could be incredible. n/t RKP5637 Oct 2014 #24

You mean GRIDS, don't you? johnp3907 Oct 2014 #5

Ah, weren't the old days just great? hedgehog Oct 2014 #10

Jon Stewart had a good bit last night about the media ramping up the fear. tanyev Oct 2014 #8

Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Asiatic Flu, Unameit Flu........... TheCowsCameHome Oct 2014 #9

I remember the Hong Kong flu of 1968-69 Art_from_Ark Oct 2014 #72

My experience with the AIDS crisis was a lot different. LuvNewcastle Oct 2014 #13

Thank you for the testimony! Lots of straight people didn't give a damn about AIDS hedgehog Oct 2014 #16

There were over 20,000 Americans dead and another 50,000 infected before Reagan even spoke a Bluenorthwest Oct 2014 #29

I'm a straight woman, and I remember reading about "the gay cancer" in valerief Oct 2014 #33

There was so much wrong during those times Marrah_G Oct 2014 #58

Sometimes, I think it's endemic to humans to not care a lot as long as it's someone else, some RKP5637 Oct 2014 #28

Blood transfusions HockeyMom Oct 2014 #40

I remember back then (early on) newfie11 Oct 2014 #15

me too newfie irisblue Oct 2014 #64

We're you in Rad Therapy newfie11 Oct 2014 #65

yep, from radiology to Rad. Therapy irisblue Oct 2014 #66

You bet newfie11 Oct 2014 #68

Except Reagan was actively dismissing AIDS as a gay disease... SidDithers Oct 2014 #18

It can be argued that it is not our responsibility to take care of the world, hedgehog Oct 2014 #19

An epidemic is most efficiently controlled at the source... SidDithers Oct 2014 #20

And Elizabeth Dole did not want to spend the pennies to test the blood supply for HIV when she LiberalArkie Oct 2014 #22

Exactly. There were people impeding public health measures... SidDithers Oct 2014 #23

OTOH, there were people who thought that the Red Cross didn't want to know hedgehog Oct 2014 #25

Dithers wins the thread. The differences between what Reagan did then and what Obama is doing now Bluenorthwest Oct 2014 #26

+1 n/t FSogol Oct 2014 #31

+1 Johonny Oct 2014 #36

Aids was a mystery at the beginning Renew Deal Oct 2014 #27

No, not at all. cbayer Oct 2014 #30

Was just about to say the same Proud Public Servant Oct 2014 #34

Where you in NYC? cbayer Oct 2014 #35

I was in NYC '84-'85 Proud Public Servant Oct 2014 #37

I was in NYC when it first hit in 1981. cbayer Oct 2014 #38

Ryan White applied to re enter school in 1985. Rock Hudson also died in 1985. July. Bluenorthwest Oct 2014 #57

True, those both happened as i was leaving Proud Public Servant Oct 2014 #80

I was working in a blood lab. hunter Oct 2014 #39

I was already an adult and I remember it well. SheilaT Oct 2014 #41

People thought you could get HIV from toilet seats. MADem Oct 2014 #42

I remember people being afraid to hug my cousin-in-law Marrah_G Oct 2014 #60

Except we have a prez willing to confront it. JaneyVee Oct 2014 #43

Yup. "OMg, close the borders to anyone from Liberia, etc", being afraid to go to San Diego, etc uppityperson Oct 2014 #44

I remember that time but paid little attention to it. n/t RebelOne Oct 2014 #45

There is a great deal of misinformation running rampant Marrah_G Oct 2014 #46

I was just thinking about this at lunch justiceischeap Oct 2014 #47

wow, really? that is wonderful about your cousin!!! Marrah_G Oct 2014 #61

I remember jokes about gay Haitian orthodontists bklyncowgirl Oct 2014 #49

LOL! I deleted a post that was getting to that very point. Baitball Blogger Oct 2014 #53

The 1st aids pt I had was in his 60's gwheezie Oct 2014 #62

We have an etiology for ebola; we didn't for AIDS back then Recursion Oct 2014 #63

Me! I was in the thick of it. I watched a pulmonologist refuse to treat an HIV patient. Avalux Oct 2014 #67

Little bit Prophet 451 Oct 2014 #69

Nope, and I don't see any valid reason to compare Jenoch Oct 2014 #70

no, it's actually the opposite, there is the usual ignorance but we get that with most JI7 Oct 2014 #71

I was thinking more of the fear about getting the disease than about the manner in which it hedgehog Oct 2014 #74

Yeah, a little bit, to be honest. closeupready Oct 2014 #83