Sharps Safety in Nursing Education: Teaching Needlestick Prevention with Safety Needles and Syringes

No one likes to think about the possibility of needlestick injuries in a clinical setting. Unfortunately, they are a real thing that can happen if nurses are not careful with their needles. All it takes is a single accidental puncture from a contaminated needle for a nurse or their patient to contract a harmful virus, such as HIV, hepatitis B, or hepatitis C. 

Nursing education programs play a critical role in helping nursing students to develop safe habits when working with syringes, needles, scalpels, or any other medical instrument with sharp edges. If you establish a nursing program with realistic simulation exercises surrounding the use of sharp instruments like needles, you can help give your future nurses the confidence and skills needed to avoid needlestick injuries in their clinical practices. 

Key points:

• Why needlestick injuries are a serious risk for nurses and patients, and how they can transmit bloodborne viruses

• Why most needlestick injuries happen after an injection, when nurses handle uncovered, already-used needles

• How simulation-based training lets students build safe sharps handling habits without any risk to real patients

• The essential supplies a nursing program needs, including safety needles, safety syringes, injection pads, sharps containers, PPE, and manikins or training arms

• How safety needles and safety syringes differ, and why novice nurses often start with retracting syringes before moving to shielded needles

• Why simulation injection pads help students master insertion depth and needle angle before advancing to lifelike manikins

• Why used needles must go straight into an FDA-approved sharps container rather than being carried or handed off

• How consistent use of protective equipment helps students develop a safety mindset that carries into every part of clinical practice
  

Understanding the Risks of Needlestick Injuries

Contrary to popular belief, most needlestick injuries occur after injections are made rather than before. The reason is that the nurses are holding uncovered needles that have already been used. If they don’t utilize the proper safety mechanisms to avoid accidental punctures, then someone is liable to get injured. 

The most common consequences stemming from needlestick injuries include:

• The exposure and transmission of viruses, bacteria, or other disease-causing microorganisms

• Emotional stress and anxiety

• Additional recovery time required

• Additional healthcare costs for the patient

• Potential risk to life

Once your nursing students understand these risks, they will make more of an effort to handle their sharp items safely and effectively. 

The Most Essential Medical Supplies for Teaching Needlestick Prevention

Creating a realistic simulation nursing education environment for teaching sharps safety requires more than basic syringes and needles. Instead, you must equip your simulation lab with safe medical supplies designed to reduce the risk of needlestick injuries. 

Below are the top six medical supplies to have in your nursing education laboratory or classroom to effectively teach needlestick prevention. 

1) Safety Needles

Safety needles make the top of the list because they are built with safety mechanisms or protective features that prevent accidental needlestick injuries. 

For instance, after the nurse administers an injection or withdraws blood from a patient, a hinged safety shield will flip over onto the needlepoint to prevent any more punctures. There are safety needles with automatic safety shield activation mechanisms, and others that require manual activation. 

Nursing students should get many hours of practice working with safety needles on manikins and simulated human patients. If your students can develop the habit of activating the safety features, they will significantly reduce the risk of causing needlestick injuries when working in a clinical setting. 

2) Safety Syringes

Safety syringes offer an alternative form of protection against needlestick injuries compared to safety needles. Rather than covering up the needle with a shield, the safety syringe features a built-in mechanism that retracts the needle into the syringe barrel to hide it from outside exposure. 

Many novice nurses will start with safety syringes because they offer more comprehensive protection by hiding the needle entirely. Then, as the nurses gain more experience, they will begin working with the safety needles that have the shield cover mechanism attached. 

Your nursing students need experience working with safety syringes and needles, so make sure you supply your simulation laboratory with both of them. 

3) Simulation Injection Pads

Simulation injection pads are special pads with realistic skin-like surfaces. They allow nursing students to practice their needle insertion techniques, such as insertion depth and needle angles, before moving on to more advanced simulation procedures. 

For sharps safety education, a simulation injection pad can train nursing students to handle their needles safely to reduce the risk of needlestick injuries. Just have your nursing students repeatedly practice safe needle insertions into the simulation injection pads until they have mastered the procedure. 

4) Sharps Containers

Sharps containers are where medical professionals dispose of their used needles, scalpels, syringes, broken glass, and all other sharp objects. Every clinical setting (and simulation laboratory) should contain a sharps container to prevent accidental injuries and infections. 

Only use sharps containers approved by the FDA because they are designed to prevent accidental punctures and leakage. Have your nursing students get in the habit of disposing of all their used needles and other sharp items into the sharps container after using them. They should do that rather than carrying around the sharp items or giving them to another person. 

5) Personal Protective Equipment

Personal protective equipment offers maximum protection for nurses against all types of accidents in a clinical setting, including accidental infections from used needles. Your nursing students should get in the habit of putting on all the essential personal protective equipment when treating patients, even the safety items unrelated to needlestick injuries. 

For instance, incorporate safety goggles, face shields, gowns, and gloves into your nursing simulation exercises. It will help your nursing students develop a safety mindset to incorporate into all aspects of their profession, including those where they need to use needles and syringes. 

6) Simulation Manikins and Training Arms

Once your nursing students have practiced their needle insertion techniques on training pads, the next step is to practice them on more lifelike objects. High-fidelity manikins and training arms offer a more realistic simulation experience for practicing these techniques. Rather than inserting a needle into a small skin-like pad, the students will insert them into a human-looking arm. 

High-fidelity manikins look like full-sized humans. The most sophisticated ones come equipped with artificial internal organs and blood. Training arms are another option if you don’t need the full-size human body for your students to practice on. In either case, your nursing students can practice their insertion techniques on more real-looking arms to reduce their likelihood of causing needlestick injuries.  

Obtain High-Quality Safety Needles and Syringes

Are you ready to obtain the best quality needles and syringes for your sharps safety nursing program?

Pristine Medical is the most recommended medical supplier of simulation syringes and needles for nursing schools worldwide. It offers realistic needles and syringes to supply your nursing students for the ultimate simulation sharps safety educational experience