A student nurse is assigned to change a patient’s dressing. The soiled bandage is saturated with bright red blood. How should the student nurse dispose of the bandage?
A bandage saturated with blood could contain infectious blood-borne pathogens and should be disposed of as medical waste in a biohazard bag. It should never be disposed of in the regular trash, even if it is double bagged. To ensure safe disposal, only sharps (such as used syringes) should be thrown away in the sharps container.
