Hospital & Specialty Training
Needle Stick & Sharps Safety
Safe sharps handling and disposal, and the post-exposure prophylaxis pathway after needle-stick injury.
- track
- Hospital & Specialty Training
- format
- Self-paced
What this module covers
Safe sharps handling and disposal, and the post-exposure prophylaxis pathway after needle-stick injury.
This is a self-paced training module that maps to Hospital sharps-safety policy - NABH IPC chapter. It is delivered inside the MedNext app so clinicians and hospital staff can work through it between shifts, with no live sessions or fixed deadlines.
What it covers in detail
Needle Stick & Sharps Safety
- Safe sharps handling: not recapping needles by hand, using safety-engineered devices, and never passing sharps hand to hand.
- Correct disposal into a puncture-proof sharps container at the point of use, and not overfilling it.
- The immediate first aid after a needle-stick injury: encourage bleeding, wash with soap and water, and do not scrub or suck the wound.
- The exposure-reporting pathway and rapid risk assessment of the source and the exposed worker.
- Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) principles for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, and why timeliness is critical.
Who should complete this, and why
Anyone who uses or is near sharps, doctors, nurses, phlebotomists, laboratory and housekeeping staff, is at risk of a needle-stick injury and its blood-borne consequences. NABH infection-control standards and the hospital's sharps-safety policy require safe handling, disposal and a defined post-exposure pathway that all such staff should know before it is needed.
What you will be able to do after this module
On completion you should be able to
- Handle and dispose of sharps safely to prevent injury.
- Give correct first aid immediately after a needle-stick injury.
- Follow the exposure-reporting and risk-assessment pathway.
- Understand post-exposure prophylaxis and why acting quickly matters.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first thing to do after a needle-stick injury?
Encourage the wound to bleed gently, wash it with soap and running water, do not scrub or suck it, and then report the injury immediately so that risk assessment and any post-exposure prophylaxis can start without delay.
Why should needles never be recapped by hand?
Recapping by hand is one of the commonest ways staff sustain a needle-stick injury. Needles should be discarded uncapped into a sharps container at the point of use, or handled with a single-handed technique or safety device where recapping is unavoidable.
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Learn moreStart Needle Stick & Sharps Safety in the MedNext app
Explore clinician-written learning resources, structured revision and practice across the MedNext platform.
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