كتاب
Safe Injection Practices
- Executive Summary
Safe injection practices are every provider's responsibility. A safe injection does not harm the person, expose the provider to risks or result in hazardous waste for the community. Improper use and disposal of syringes, needles, and medications imposes risks on patients and healthcare providers. The following recommendations apply to the use of needles, cannulas that replace needles, and, where applicable, intravenous delivery systems.
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Recommendations |
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Prepare medications in a designated clean medication preparation area that is separated from potential sources of contamination, including sinks or other water sources (Strong recommendation) |
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Use aseptic technique when preparing and administering medications to avoid contamination of sterile injection equipment (Strong recommendation) |
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Disinfect the access diaphragms of medication vials before inserting a device into the vial (Strong recommendation) |
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Enter medication containers with a new needle and a new syringe, even when obtaining additional doses for the same patient. (Strong recommendation) |
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Do not administer medications from a syringe to multiple patients, even if the needle or cannula on the syringe is changed. Needles, cannula and syringes are sterile, single-use items; they should not be reused for another patient nor to access a medication or solution that might be used for a subsequent patient (Strong recommendation) |
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Use needles and syringes for one patient only (this includes manufactured prefilled syringes and cartridge devices such as insulin pens). (Strong recommendation) |
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Use fluid infusion and administration sets (i.e., intravenous bags, tubing and connectors) for one patient only and dispose appropriately after use. Consider a syringe or needle/cannula contaminated once it has been used to enter or connect to a patient’s intravenous infusion bag or administration set (Strong recommendation) |
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Ensure single-dose or single-use vials, ampules, and bags or bottles of parenteral solution are used for one patient only. Do not combine leftover contents for later use (Strong recommendation) |
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Use single-dose vials for parenteral medications whenever possible (Strong recommendation) |
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If multidose vials must be used, both the needle or cannula and syringe used to access the multidose vial must be sterile (Strong recommendation) |
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Dedicate multidose vials to a single patient whenever possible. If multidose vials are used for more than one patient, restrict the medication vials to a centralized medication area and do not bring them into the immediate patient treatment area (e.g., operating room, patient room/cubicle) (Strong recommendation) |
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Store multidose vials in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations; discard if sterility is compromised or questionable (Strong recommendation) |
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Consider the use of syringes with a sharps injury protection feature (SIP devices), as opposed to syringes without a sharps injury protection feature, by health care workers (HCWs) delivering intramuscular, subcutaneous or intradermal injectable medications to patients (Conditional recommendation) |
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Consider the use of syringes with a re-use prevention feature (RUP devices), as opposed to devices without, by HCWs delivering intramuscular, subcutaneous or intradermal injectable medications to patients (Conditional recommendation) |
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Wear a surgical mask when placing a catheter or injecting material into the spinal canal or subdural space (i.e., during myelograms, lumbar puncture and spinal or epidural anesthesia) (Strong recommendation) |
