Hi guys – trainee dental nurse here.

So my partner is a registered dentist and today he’s managed to obtain an inoculation injury by a used needle.

Thankfully the needle was used on a low risk patient, who gets his bloods done every 6 months and reported that his last lot were all clear and he isn’t a drug abuser.

So, according to my training, the procedure for this situation is not bleed the site (also why?!), rinse under clean water, inform superior, log in accident book and contact occi health.

So we go to occi health for a blood test and get told that they don’t actually do any tests but they store the sample taken?!

What’s the point of this?! Surely the whole point was to check that no diseases have been contracted through a needle stick injury?? Am I missing something??