Sterile needles/ dumb mistake

[latebloomer74, LPN]

I was wondering, is only the needle sterile when it comes out of the package? I made a very stupid mistake in clinical. I took the insulin needle out of the package, took the cap off, and then put the needle down on the cap. It was my 1st time doing insulin in clinical so I was nervous. I got a clinical warning for that, which I thought was a little harsh seeing that my clinical instructor knew it was my 1st time doing insulin in the clinical. But I screwed up, can't blame anyone but myself. But I did learn and I will NEVER do that again.

[SolaireSolstice, BSN, RN]

Well, my understanding is no, anything inside a "sterile" package is sterile. But the minute you touched that cap, you broke the sterility of the cap. (Unless for some unknown reason you were wearing sterile gloves). Maybe that's what your instructor meant. Anyway, what I found was every instructor wants you to do it their way and if you don't do it their way, you have done it "wrong". Just follow their instructions. Don't uncap your needle until you are ready to draw up you med. There is no reason to "put down the needle".