Originally Posted by
Zukini
Thank you all for your feedback. Nurse C called me this morning and provided more details regarding the incident (needle stick was after the actual vaccination before the needle was recapped, and it was Nurse B who was helping to hold DS legs who was stuck). Their clinical supervisor called me this afternoon and we agreed to the blood testing for DS at this time but not in their office, but at the local children's hospital satellite unit. She also agreed to my request for a formal letter for my files from the practice detailing the incident and the follow up. They will, of course, cover all lab costs incurred from the testing. But my concern is for his medical and insurance or insurability record in future, since everything is electronic these days, and who knows how it will be "connected" in future with testing my three year old for HIV and hepatitis.... at least I can file it away, and have something to fall back on if we are randomly questioned about it in future. She also said she would look into doing the testing under an alias, but wasn't sure how that would work just yet. They both assured me that DS is not at risk, and due to HIPAA etc will not be releasing the staff results to us. I'm okay with that.
Clinical Supervisor thanked us for being cooperative and understanding, and reiterated how much training they did with their staff, and that this would be reviewed for lessons learned. She also apologized for the inconvenience and stress caused.
So we still have to go in and do the draw, but I am hopeful the phlebotomy crew will be super skilled. She did mention restraints, but I think that might be a really bad idea with DS. He does really well with things like car seats etc now and I don't want restraints to become an issue for him... any office with crinkly paper aka a doctors office exam bed makes him cry upon entry as it is. Will discuss the gameplan for a successful draw with the hospital staff before we actually go in and take DH along for support. Thank you all.
They will probably discuss the papoose board. http://www.natus.com/index.cfm?page=products_1&crid=242 They also have an arm board http://www.medline.com/category/IV-A...ds/Z05-CA19_02 that they may use. Both are fairly common to use in a children's lab. The papoose board can be kind of scary, unless he's one that likes tight, squishy squeezes. The good news (good being relative, of course) is that it's pretty darn tough for a kid to wiggle on the papoose board, so that takes out the moving target out of the equation. And, these are the people that deal with the tiny, sick, and difficult veins; a 3 year old with autism isn't going to be anything "new" for them--it's their bread and butter.
Hope it goes well for you guys!
--Mimi
Mom to Lala (2004), Bonus Mom to Big Sis 1 (1991) and Big Sis 2 (1992)
Grammy to Big Kindy Kid (2011), Big Pre-K Kid (2012),
Grandbaby Appendage (2014), and New Baby Grandboy (summer 2017)