Safe Injection Practices | Vermont Department of Health

Safe Injection Practices | Vermont Department of Health
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Safe Injection Practices
Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)
Antibiotic Use
Infection Prevention & Control Resources
Pathogens of Concern in Vermont
Patients and Families
Safe Injection Practices
Unsafe injection practices can be a serious threat to a patient’s health. Health care providers (doctors, nurses, and anyone providing injections) should never reuse a needle or syringe from one patient to another. Both the needle and syringe must be discarded once they have been used. Reusing a needle or syringe can put patients in danger of getting hepatitis C, hepatitis B, and HIV.
Needles, Syringes, and Multi-dose Vials
The following recommendations apply to the use of needles, syringes, and intravenous delivery systems:
Use aseptic technique to avoid contamination of sterile injection equipment.
Do not administer medications from a syringe to multiple patients, even if the needle or cannula on the syringe is changed. Needles and syringes are sterile, single-use items; they should not be reused for another patient or to access a medication or solution that might be used for a subsequent patient.
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.
Use single-dose vials for injectable medications whenever possible.
Do not administer medications from single-dose vials to multiple patients, or combine leftover contents for later use.
If multi-dose vials must be used, both the needle and syringe used to access the multi-dose vial must be sterile.
Do not keep multi-dose vials in the immediate patient treatment area and store in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations. Discard if sterility is compromised or questionable.
Do not use bags or bottles of intravenous solution as a common source of supply for multiple patients.
For more information about preventing unsafe injection practices, please visit the
CDC Injection Safety
page.
Topics:
Antibiotic Resistance
Infectious Diseases
October 2, 2025