KNOWLEDGE ON MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN A TERTIARY HEALTH

specific treatment and management prior to final disposal. The problem is growing with an everincreasing number of hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic laboratories in Nigeria, yet there is dearth of information for planning an effective intervention. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of medical waste management among healthcare workers at a General hospital in Anambra, Nigeria. Methods: Stratified sampling technique was used to select consenting study participants viz: doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and healthcare attendants, who work in the in the 70-bed capacity secondary healthcare centre in the state. Results: Mean age of the participants was 30+ 7 years. Ten (10) doctors, 20 nurses, 8 pharmacists, 6 laboratory technicians and 36 healthcare attendants were recruited for the study. Segregation of waste at source was known by 80%, 70%, 50%, 90%, and 5.6% of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians and healthcare attendants respectively. All the doctors and nurses, 75%, 66.7% and 35% of pharmacists, laboratory technicians and healthcare attendants respectively were aware of the hazardous consequences of improper medical waste handling. However, the real practice of medical waste management was poor among the respondents and majority of them had not received training on the subject. Conclusion: Lack of adequate training on healthcare waste management may be responsible for the improper waste management practices observed in the health facility. Thus, on the job training program and monitoring is needed for all staff, with special emphasis on healthcare attendants.

Bio-medical waste is defined as wastes that is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings that are contaminated with patients' body fluids, syringes, needles, ampoules, organs and body parts, placenta, dressings, disposables plastics and microbiological wastes. Medical wastes poses a significant impact on health and environment. Proper waste management strategies ensure health and environmental safety. This study aims is an appraisal of waste management practices in Jos North LGA of Plateau State from a longitudinal study of 70 medical establishments in the LGA. The study reveals a waste-collection system that is sound in principle but with deficiencies because of the declining quality of the waste managers' service delivery, examining belief systems of stakeholders to determine the effect these have on actual implementation of waste management strategies in Jos North. Questionnaire administration to service providers and other relevant stakeholders and the subsequent analysis as a research instrument revealed knowledge gaps in the user base. The results showed that 50% of the general waste produce is non-infectious, majority of the waste is not segregated. The study also shows that most of the sampled facilities do not segregate their waste, nor use protective clothing such as gloves during waste handling. The study also shows majority of the medical facilities dispose of their waste on daily basis and have monthly and yearly record of their financial lending on waste management ranging from N20, 000, 00 to N100, 000, 00. Appropriate suggestions are made in order to curtail the risks of infection as result of improper disposal of medical waste in all medical establishments in Nigeria.

Background: Medical waste is hazardous posing serious threats to environmental health and requiring specific treatment and management prior to final disposal. The problem is growing with an everincreasing number of hospitals, clinics, and diagnostic laboratories in Nigeria, yet there is dearth of information for planning an effective intervention. This study assessed the knowledge and practice of medical waste management among healthcare workers at a General hospital in Anambra, Nigeria. Methods: Stratified sampling technique was used to select consenting study participants viz: doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and healthcare attendants, who work in the in the 70-bed capacity secondary healthcare centre in the state. Results: Mean age of the participants was 30 + 7 years. Ten (10) doctors, 20 nurses, 8 pharmacists, 6 laboratory technicians and 36 healthcare attendants were recruited for the study. Segregation of waste at source was known by 80%, 70%, 50%, 90%, and 5.6% of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians and healthcare attendants respectively. All the doctors and nurses, 75%, 66.7% and 35% of pharmacists, laboratory technicians and healthcare attendants respectively were aware of the hazardous consequences of improper medical waste handling. However, the real practice of medical waste management was poor among the respondents and majority of them had not received training on the subject. Conclusion: Lack of adequate training on healthcare waste management may be responsible for the improper waste management practices observed in the health facility. Thus, on the job training program and monitoring is needed for all staff, with special emphasis on healthcare attendants.

Texila International Journal of Public Health, 2020

Biomedical wastes are 'special type' of waste generated from diagnostic, research laboratories and health care institutions where screening, diagnosis and treatment are carried out. These wastes have been categorically classified as hazardous wastes that should be given priority attention from the source to final disposal in order to avert public health issues. The study aimed to assess the knowledge and perception of health workers towards biomedical waste management in selected hospitals in Abuja. Data were collected by structured questionnaire and on-the-spot observation. Six hospitals that provided health care services to the increasing population of Abuja residents were surveyed. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis were used in the analysis of the data. Chi-square (χ 2) test was used to determine the level of significance set at p<0.05. The years of work experience of the respondents showed that 98 (24.50%) have spent 1-5 years on the job, 80 (20.00%) of the respondents have spent 5-10 years on the job, 88 (22.00%) of the respondents have spent 10-15 years on the job while majority 134 (33.50%) of the respondents had spent more than 15 years on the job. The study showed that there was a significance difference in the knowledge and perceptions of health workers to the biomedical waste management (p<0.05). High level of knowledge and perception among the health workers was observed. There is still need for training and retraining of the health workers, hospital visitors and the general public, sensitization on the risks and benefits associated with proper biomedical waste management.

European Journal of Clinical Medicine (EJ-CLINICMED), 2023

Introduction: Hospital waste has been reported to be poorly handled and managed by the hospital staff and administration respectively, leading to environmental and health consequences within hospitals and to the population outside health facilities. Aim: To assess the knowledge and practice of healthcare waste management (HCWM) among healthcare workers at Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital (YDMH), Kaduna, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst doctors, nurses, medical laboratory scientists and technicians, ward attendants, and cleaners at YDMH. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study unit. A total of 73 health workers consented to an interview. The data was obtained through the administration of questionnaires on the knowledge of health workers while the practice was assessed by direct observation using a checklist. Data were collected and compiled using Microsoft Excel and analyzed using IBM, SPSS version 23.0. Results: There were 39 (53.4%) males and 34 (46.4%) females in this study. The average age of participants was 36.8 ± 8.3 years. The study revealed good knowledge of waste management amongst nurses (88.18%), doctors (86.68%), medical laboratory scientists and technicians (77.48%), ward attendants (19.1%), and cleaners (17.5%), respectively. In practice, all the wards and departments observed do not have (0%) color-coded plastic bags on their waste bins, with only 70% having their waste bins covered, 30% having posters to guide waste users displayed near the waste bins, and 0% waste treatment before disposal practice. The health facility’s method of final waste disposal is not in line with best practices. Conclusion: This study highlights the discrepancy and inadequacies of knowledge and practice of proper healthcare waste management among healthcare workers. The healthcare workers with adequate knowledge were the nurses, doctors, and medical laboratory scientists and technicians while the least knowledge was found amongst ward attendants and cleaners. The practice of healthcare waste management was poor across all professions. This calls for the need to train and retrain all health workers with emphasis on the ward attendants and cleaners. Also, there is a need for the provision of color-coded waste bin liners in all wards and departments which should be adequately budgeted for by the management.

Introduction: Healthcare waste is any solid or liquid waste that is generated in the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in production or testing of biologicals. Mismanagement of healthcare waste poses risks to people and the environment. Improving the standards of healthcare waste management protects the health and safety of healthcare workers, patients, visitors to healthcare facilities and the general public. This study was carried out to determine the knowledge and practice of healthcare waste management by the healthcare workers in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. There hundred and thirty one healthcare workers who have been in the employment of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital were recruited into the study by proportionate sampling technique. Data was collected using a semistructured self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17. A p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: One hundred and seventy nine (54.1%) of the respondents were males while 149 (45%) were females. The commonest age group was 25-34 years (49.5%). Three hundred and twenty (96.7%) of the respondents had tertiary education, 8 (2.4%) had secondary education, while 3 (0.9%) had primary education and none of the respondents had no education at all. One hundred and twenty six (38.1%) of the respondents have worked for the hospital for 2-4 years while 4 (1.2%) have worked for greater than or equal to 20 years. The knowledge of healthcare waste management among the healthcare workers was high. But the practice was not optimal. Conclusion: The healthcare workers had a high level of knowledge regarding healthcare waste management but practice amongst the workers was not adequate. Keywords: Knowledge, Practice, Healthcare Waste, Healthcare Workers

TEXILA INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

Adequate knowledge and attitude towards the collection/disposal of health care waste (HCW) are important factors in the prevention of the spread of infectious agents that may be of health risks to both the public and the environment. Data on knowledge and attitude to healthcare waste management were scored based on their respective questionnaire information obtained with a 5-point Likert scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree (ie.1 to 5). Statistical analysis was performed at 5% significant level. A probability value (p) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to interpret the analysis results. The study found the 248 respondents, 71.8% are female while 28.2% were males with an average age of 37.4 years. Generally, the waste handlers studied showed high knowledge of health care waste management, with an overall mean score of 4.0 (out of 5). Knowledge of Medical waste management showed a significant influence in patterns of healthcare waste management practices (p = 0.0001, 95% CI = 0.0004 to 0.08). Many of the waste handlers showed a strong positive attitude. There was no evidence however, of significant influence of attitude towards healthcare waste management and pattern of healthcare waste management practices in the study (p=0.131).

Sustainability, 2018

In situations of uncertainty, scenarios serve as input for scientifically informed decision making. However, past experience shows that not all scenarios are treated equally and we hypothesise that only those based on a world view shared by scientists and decision makers are perceived as credible and receive full attention of the respective group of decision makers. While intuitively plausible, this hypothesis has not been analysed by quantitative correlation analyses, so instead of drawing on quantitative data the paper analyses the archetypical scenarios developed in the ALARM project to substantiate the plausibility by a comparative analysis of world views, value systems and policy orientations. Shock scenarios are identified as a means to explore the possibility space of future developments beyond the linear developments models and most scenario storylines suggest. The analysis shows that the typical scenarios are based on mutually exclusive assumptions. In conclusion, a comparison of storylines and empirical data can reveal misperceptions and the need to rethink world views as a necessary step to open up to new challenges. Deeply held beliefs will make this transition unlikely to happen without severe crises, if not dedicated efforts to explicate the role of world views for scenarios and policies are undertaken.

Título original: Der Ursprung des Kunstwerkes, primera edición 1952; última 1980 Hólderlin unddas Wesen der Dichlung, primera edición 1937; última 1971 © Vittorio Klostermann GmbH. Frankfurt/Main © 1958, FONDO DE CULTURA ECONÓMICA © 1988, FONDO DE CULTURA ECONÓMICA S.A. DE C.V. Av. de la Universidad 975; 03100 México FONDO DE CULTURA ECONÓMICA DE ARGENTINA S.A. Suipacha 617; 1008 Buenos Aires ISBN: 950-557-124-0