This presentation explores the critical importance of safe sharps management in healthcare settings, highlighting the risks associated with needlestick and sharps injuries and their impact on healthcare workers, patients, and organisations.
Presented by nurse educator and sustainability advocate Belynda Abbott, it outlines key prevention strategies, including engineering controls, safe work practices, education, reporting, and the adoption of safer technologies. The presentation also examines the influence of workplace culture, staffing pressures, and clinical distractions on sharps safety, while introducing emerging Australian standards designed to support safer workflows.
Finally, it connects sharps management with broader sustainability goals, demonstrating how healthcare organisations can protect people, improve safety outcomes, and reduce environmental impact through responsible and forward-thinking practices.
The Learning Outcomes:
- Describe the importance of sharps safety in healthcare.
- Identify key risks associated with sharps injuries.
- Apply best-practice sharps handling and disposal methods.
- Recognise factors that influence sharps safety and injury prevention.
- Understand current Australian sharps management standards.
- Explain the role of sustainability in safe sharps management.
Register here: The Importance of Sharps Management in Healthcare
About the presenter:
Belynda Abbott
FICDA FACN
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Belynda Abbott is a Nurse Lecturer at the University of Canberra and a PhD candidate researching the role of nurses in responding to heat-related illness in the context of climate change. Her work focuses on the intersection of healthcare, sustainability, and education.
Belynda is a Global Nurse Leadership Institute (GNLI) Scholar with the International Council of Nurses and a former Board Director of the Australian College of Nursing. Her clinical experience includes Neuroscience, Infectious Diseases, and supporting the Health Emergency Operations Centre during COVID-19.
Passionate about Planetary Health, sustainable healthcare, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Belynda is committed to advancing nursing leadership, healthcare education, and positive change for both people and the planet.