My resident had a pretty bad day today. She stuck herself with a needle while performing a basal cell carcinoma excision on an HIV+ patient (who happened to have a pretty high viral load). She's going to have to have antiretroviral therapy. We do know that the conversion rate to HIV is pretty low. But it really, really is a bad way to start the day.
I was not a huge fan of the way the attending was handling teaching surgery. He was rushing and criticizing the resident, who was already nervous and fumbling already. I had already noticed she did not have the greatest situational awareness of sharps, and combining that with being stared at by an attending and medical student... not a good place.
Sometimes I forget that there are real occupational hazards of working in healthcare. Getting hepatitis, HIV, AIDS, antibiotic-resistant P. acnes (acne baceteria), nail fungi, or childhood communicable diseases are possible consequences of choosing to be in healthcare.
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