GREENSBORO, NC -- We post all sorts of things to facebook: what we eat, the vacations we go on and even when we get a flu shot. Yup, I really did see this on my facebook feed.
We like to share everything don't we? Even the routine stuff. And getting a flu shot is pretty routine. You sit in the chair, the nurse turns around, gets the needle ready. You probably make a little small talk with the nurse the nurse gives you the shot and in less than 5 minutes you're out the door. It's routine.
What should also be routine; you physically seeing that a new needle and syringe are being used for your shot. 2WTK is bringing this up because
60-some people in New Jersey are now being tested for HIV and Hepatitis after the nurse giving the flu shots reused the same syringe. The needle was changed out, but the syringe wasn't.
Neither are ever supposed be used more than once.
Guilford County's Immunization Nursing supervisor says you should see the needle and syringe being opened. "Each syringe should be individually packaged so they see that each time you're given a shot you're opening a fresh pack," says Vicki Smith. "You're taking that needle out for the very first time. If they see that they know they're not getting a used syringe."
Sometimes the nurse comes in with everything laid out on a tray. What then? As a patient you have the right to ask to see the syringe come from the packaging and you should.If that means they need to open another one for you so you can see it, so be it. And Smith says seeing the package goes for any kind of shot, whether it's the flu vaccine or anything else.
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