Safe injection practices dictate that needles should:

Needles should only be used once per patient to ensure the highest standards of safety and infection control. This practice minimizes the risk of transmitting infections, including bloodborne pathogens, from one individual to another. Each time a needle is used, there is a potential for contamination, which can lead to serious health issues not only for patients but also for healthcare providers if they are accidentally stuck with a used needle.

Using a needle on multiple patients can propagate infections and is not consistent with the principles of safe injection practices, which emphasize the importance of single-use devices to promote patient safety. Proper disposal methods further enhance safety protocols by ensuring that used needles do not pose a risk to others in the healthcare setting or the community.

While sterilization is important for reusable medical instruments, needles are designed to be single-use and cannot be adequately sterilized once they have been used because of the risk of microscopic damage and the difficulty of ensuring complete sterility. Safe disposal in designated sharps containers is essential for managing biohazardous waste responsibly.