N.J. Nurse Who Reused Syringes 67 Times Did Some Other Incredible Things: CDC

A N.J. nurse who allegedly reused a syringe while administering 67 flu shots did some other incredible things, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

Those who got a shot from the nurse have been told to get tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV.

The CDC issued a report, saying it found many mistakes committed by the nurse and TotalWellness, the company that contracted her to administer shots to the employees of N.J. pharmaceutical company:

• The nurse contracted by the health services company brought three multiple-dose vials of vaccine that were intended for another event. The nurse reported using two syringes she found among her supplies to administer vaccine to 67 employees of the New Jersey business.
• She reported wiping the syringes with alcohol and using a new needle for each of the 67 persons. One of the vaccine recipients witnessed and questioned the syringe reuse, and brought it to the attention of managers at the business who, in turn, reported the practice to the health services company contracted to provide the influenza vaccinations.
• Reuse of syringes for multiple patients, with or without reuse of needles, is recognized as a serious infection control breach that poses risks for bloodborne pathogen transmission.
• The nurse used only two multiple dose vials of vaccine (10 doses/vial) to administer vaccines to 67 adult participants; thus, participants did not receive the recommended dose of influenza vaccine.
• The health services company had shipped the vaccine to the nurse’s home, where it was stored in her home refrigerator without temperature monitoring until the event.
• Vaccine doses were then transported from the nurse’s home to the vaccination site using a styrofoam container and cold packs.
• After the event, unused vaccine doses were transported back to the nurse’s home and stored in her refrigerator before being shipped back to the health services company in a container with cold packs.

The contracted nurse voluntarily surrendered her license within one week of the initial report. The entire CDC report can be found here.

The situation first came to light in October, when it was reported that the nurse changed the needle, but reused the same syringe while administering shots to 67 employees at Otsuka Pharmaceutical in West Windsor.

As a result, employees may have been exposed to infected blood, although the risk is the New Jersey Department of Health says the risk is “low.”

The nurse also allegedly gave a dose of the flu vaccine lower than what is recommended, so employees are also advised to get another flu shot, according to the report.