30th October 2021, Saturday. It was the first day of my shift. I'm the kind who gets thrilled over working on holiday because it's less busy.. And alhamdulillah I was in the "transition ward" as I call it. Where all patients are placed there temporarily until their COVID status is cleared.

Everything went well, the bosses were nice.. Presented smoothly. Prepared for tomorrow beforehand.. Until it's 4 pm. A new patient was pushed in. My partner's shift will end at 5 pm, so it's an unspoken rule for me to handle him first hand - as in taking swab, bloods, whatever needed.

I've done "donning in" (to wear PPE), clerked the patient. Took blood from the patient - about 20cc, because we needed for blood cultures (2 bottles of 7-10cc), and other few bloods to send for investigations.

To keep the story short : Needlestick injury happened between me and a HIV patient who has just started treatment 2 months back. Maybe one day once everything is settled (there are months of follow up), I'll talk about it. I couldn't really find others' experiences on blog.. After all, it's not something pleasant to talk about. But alhamdulillah, now that I posted this - I'm fine.

This is not an uncommon accidental injury among healthcare workers. To reassure my beloved friends, it's less likely to get infected with HIV through injuries like this. Hepatitis B is more commonly contracted that way. Hence as a result, I'll be on medication for 28 days, twice a day.. The hardest part for someone who has difficulty to swallow even a Panadol / antibiotics. :(