Medical Student Handbook

Medical Student Education

Care and Disposal of Sharps

Policy 670.55

Policy Statement

1. "Sharps" containers (i.e., rigid needle disposal containers) should be in all examination rooms, patient rooms and procedure rooms for convenient and safe disposal of needles, scalpel blades and other sharp instruments immediately following use.
2. Needles and other sharp devices must be handled with extraordinary care and concentration. The primary user is responsible for safe disposal.
3. Needles must be immediately disposed of in a “sharps” container and may never be recapped, purposefully bent, broken or removed from disposable syringes.
4. Needles from IV tubing or from non-disposable syringes should be removed with a clamp and disposed of in a "sharps" container.

Applicability of the Policy

All Medical Students

Related Larner College of Medicine Policies

• 670.00 Preventing Transmission of Infection in Clinical Settings and Instructions for Management of Exposure to Blood-borne Pathogens
• 670.10 Immunizations and Other Health Information
• 670.15 Infection Control Training
• 670.20 Tuberculosis Screening
• 670.30 Hand-washing
• 670.35 Students with Known Blood-borne Infections
• 670.45 Universal Precautions
• 670.50 Protective Barrier Precautions
• 670.60 Clean-up of Spills
• 670.65 Definitions of Exposures to Blood-borne Pathogens
• 670.70 Reporting of Student Exposures and Injury-related Incidents
• 690.10 Fitness Committee Procedure and Review of Professional Performance
• 830.00 Health Insurance

Related University of Vermont Policies

• 5.2.4 Bloodborne Pathogens Exposure Control
• UOP28 Communicable Disease
• 5.17.3 Laboratory Health and Safety
• 5.19.2 Minors in Laboratories

Related Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standard(s)

12.8 Student Exposure Policies/Procedures

History

• 5/20/2014 Policy Adopted/Affirmed [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 3/17/2020 Reformatted [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 4/26/2022 Policy Edit [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 2/21/2023 Policy Revised [Medical Curriculum Committee]
• 12/19/2023 Policy Edit [Medical Curriculum Committee]

Policy Oversight

Associate/Assistant Dean for Student

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