I messed up my ppd site

2 You would think as a nurse that do many ppds would be able to follow one simple direction. Nope. Not me.

I get the TB injected today. Was advised by the nurse not to scrub it in the shower as this may cause a false positive. I nodded and winked and stated " Yes, I know"

Lo and behold I forget about the TB site and I scrub my arm in the shower. Now I have a freakin quarter size, 2mm, red, round, bump on my arm.

I just hope it goes down. Atleast I have the second step next week... If not, chest x-ray I suppose.
LOL. I feel bad for you, but can't help but laugh. Just say I'm laughing with instead of at.But, this made me think of something I did today. I donated blood at my hospital. After the donation was over, it was time to go sit, have a juice and wait 15 min. to leave. I had the nice, tiny pressure dressing on my L AC and the tech. told me "Don't bend that arm for 15 min.".I sat at the table with my juice and chips acting like I knew what I was doing and.............OMG I caught myself bending my arm about...........oh, 15 times. Thats 1 per minute. As you said, you'd think as a nurse I'd know better. Guess not. I have a new empathy for pt's with an IV in their AC who can't remember not to bend their arm.

Quote from NurseLoveJoy88You would think as a nurse that do many ppds would be able to follow one simple direction. Nope. Not me. I get the TB injected today. Was advised by the nurse not to scrub it in the shower as this may cause a false positive. I nodded and winked and stated " Yes, I know" Lo and behold I forget about the TB site and I scrub my arm in the shower. Now I have a freakin quarter size, 2mm, red, round, bump on my arm. I just hope it goes down. Atleast I have the second step next week... If not, chest x-ray I suppose.

A positive PPD is a raised area of 15mm or more, (unless you have HIV, and then it's 7mm). So with a 2mm raised area, I don't think you have anything to worry about.Edit: I just read the "quarter sized" comment, so I'm thinking the 2mm was typo? 2cm maybe? Try applying ice, and then moist heat, like a warm washcloth.

I wouldn't worry it hasn't even been 24 hrs yet. You would be measuring induration at the site, not just the size of the bump.

Quote from ashepherdA positive PPD is a raised area of 15mm or more, (unless you have HIV, and then it's 7mm). So with a 2mm raised area, I don't think you have anything to worry about.Edit: I just read the "quarter sized" comment, so I'm thinking the 2mm was typo? 2cm maybe? Try applying ice, and then moist heat, like a warm washcloth.

I don't know if I would work (ice, heat, whatever...) to get the lesion to resolve. What if you are TB positive. It may not be a false positive from your scrubbing but a real one- how would you know? I would rather get a CXR or 2nd PPD rather than struggle to make my injection look negative. TB is pretty easy to treat now-a-days, and still pretty lethal if you don't treat it.

Quote from suannaI don't know if I would work (ice, heat, whatever...) to get the lesion to resolve. What if you are TB positive. It may not be a false positive from your scrubbing but a real one- how would you know? I would rather get a CXR or 2nd PPD rather than struggle to make my injection look negative. TB is pretty easy to treat now-a-days, and still pretty lethal if you don't treat it.