[331322]
Patient was hospitalized because they were unable to be extubated after dental surgery. The patient had a peripheral iv in their left foot which began to leak. The iv was taken out, and the nurse began to look for another access site. She was unable to find one. So she went to find a transilluminator. The one usually on the unit could not be found, so she went into the pyxias and obtained what she though was another trasilliminator. What the nurse actually picked up was a 3. 5 volt otoscope head. The otoscope on the pyxis was not adequately identified. It was in a tray of unidentified otoscope parts. The nurse knew that a transilliminator was used for but did not appear to recognize that she had not procured the transilluminator from the pyxis. She attached the light to an otoscope handle and used it to find a good access site in the patient's hand. During the access process, the light was held under the patient's hand while an attempt was made to gain iv access. A couple hours later, a blister appeared on the patient's palm. It was not reported to have been a full thickness burn. It was a second degree burn. It was treated with thermazine. There was no further follow up treatment required. In order to prevent future occurrences of this nature, the loose otoscope has been taken off the floor.
Patient Sequence No: 1, Text Type: D, B5