Locale: Downtown D.C., major university hospital emergency room
Sharon was 23, beautiful and a fantastic person and nurse.
Dr. C and Sharon had dated for a while when it happened. This was back in the days when the bloodier you were, the better it was, because it meant you were working hard. AIDS was unheard of, wearing gloves was reserved for sterile procedures, and many of the patients we saw were dual addicted. Narcan and 50% glucose IV were our drugs of choice for anyone unconscious/unresponsive. If the tracks were bad enough and the patient could still function, we'd let them give their own Narcan so we didn't blow their last good vein. (That had a tendency to get their knickers in a twist.)
The security guards, even back then, carried guns. And we were always busy.
A code came in one night. In our frantic efforts to save a life, Dr. C. got stuck with a needle. He was to come with with hepatitis B.
Being a physician, he of course thought he and Sharon could manage at home. She'd bring his supplies home from work when needed, maintain his IVs, etc. And it worked. For a while.
And then it happened. Sharon got stuck with one of his needles and she became infected as well.
Sharon died from that infection, because in 1979, we didn't know the importance of gloves and handwashing. Today we DO know, and people in the medical profession STILL ignore the warnings.
Please don't be another Sharon. Wear your gloves, and wash your hands.