scholarly journals Awareness and practice of medical waste management among healthcare providers in National Referral Hospital

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0243817
Author(s):  
Zimba Letho ◽  
Tshering Yangdon ◽  
Chhimi Lhamo ◽  
Chandra Bdr Limbu ◽  
Sonam Yoezer ◽  
...  

Introduction The management and treatment of Medical Waste (MW) are of great concern owing to its potential hazard to human health and the environment, particularly in developing countries. In Bhutan, although guidelines exist on the prevention and management of wastes, the implementation is still hampered by technological, economic, social difficulties and inadequate training of staff responsible for handling these waste. The study aimed at assessing the awareness and practice of medical waste management among health care providers and support staff at the National Referral Hospital and its compliance with the existing National guidelines and policies. Materials and methods An observational cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2019. Three research instruments were developed and used; (i) Demographic questionnaire, (ii) Awareness questions, and (iii) the Observational checklist. The data was coded and double entered into Epi data version 3.1 and SPSS version 18 was used for analysis. Descriptive statistics were used to present the findings of the study. Results The majority of the respondents were female (54.1%) with a mean age of 32.2 (±7.67) years, most of whom have not received any waste management related training/education (56.8%). About 74.4% are aware of medical waste management and 98.2% are aware on the importance of using proper personal protective equipment. Only 37.6% knew about the maximum time limit for medical waste to be kept in hospital premises is 48 hours. About 61.3% of the observed units/wards/departments correctly segregated the waste in accordance to the national guidelines. However, half of the Hospital wastes are not being correctly transported based on correct segregation process with 58% of waste not segregated into infectious and general wastes. Conclusion The awareness and practice of medical waste management among healthcare workers is often limited with inadequate sensitization and lack of proper implementation of the existing National guidelines at the study site. Therefore, timely and effective monitoring is required with regular training for healthcare workers and support staff. Furthermore, strengthening the waste management system at National Referral Hospital would provide beneficial impact in enhancing safety measures of patients.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Virender Verma ◽  
Priya Soni ◽  
Meenakshi Kalhan ◽  
Sanjiv Nanda ◽  
Anjani Kumar ◽  
...  

Background and PurposeFrom antiquity, the healthcare facilities have treated sick people but there was little awareness about the fact that hospitals generate a lot of hazardous bio-medical waste, which had been disposed without proper guidelines. Lately, it has been a proven thing that bio-medical-waste is a potential hazard for heath-personals, and environment. Therefore, it must be disposed in a proper manner.ObjectivesThis was an observational study carried out at one of the tertiary care hospitals in Rajgarh city about the knowledge, attitude and practices of the hospital staff about the bio-medical waste management.Material and methodAn observational (cross-sectional) study using questionnaires was carried out at one of the non-NABH accredited tertiary care hospitals of Rajgarh City in Rajasthan (India).ResultsMore than 70% staff (except housekeeping) had good ideas about waste categories, segregation and color coding except in radioactive waste. The house keeping staff did well in 3 categories (Linen, sharps and glasses). Most of the employees has clarity about BMW except the housekeeping staff which did well on most of parameters except barcoding, pretreatment of anatomical/ biotechnology waste, knowledge about STP plant (Sewage treatment plant), Hazmat and signage. On actual hospital rounds we found that the hazmat practices were in a poor shape. Most of staff was aware occupational hazards except housekeeping staff.ConclusionA written policy, induction training of healthcare workers, constant and repetitive workshops, and motivation are important human factors to implement the biomedical waste practices in a small-scale healthcare organization. Risk-stratification, understanding of health hazards and how to activate hazmat protocols are important things which are to be brought into practice.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0734242X2110291
Author(s):  
Jade Megan Chisholm ◽  
Reza Zamani ◽  
Abdelazim M Negm ◽  
Noha Said ◽  
Mahmoud M Abdel daiem ◽  
...  

Africa is the second populous continent, and its population has the fastest growing rate. Some African countries are still plagued by poverty, poor sanitary conditions and limited resources, such as clean drinking water, food supply, electricity, and effective waste management systems. Underfunded healthcare systems, poor training and lack of awareness of policies and legislations on handling medical waste have led to increased improper handling of waste within hospitals, healthcare facilities and transportation and storage of medical waste. Some countries, including Ethiopia, Botswana, Nigeria and Algeria, do not have national guidelines in place to adhere to the correct disposal of such wastage. Incineration is often the favoured disposal method due to the rapid diminishment of up to 90% of waste, as well as production of heat for boilers or for energy production. This type of method – if not applying the right technologies – potentially creates hazardous risks of its own, such as harmful emissions and residuals. In this study, the sustainability aspects of medical waste management in Africa were reviewed to present resilient solutions for health and environment protection for the next generation in Africa. The findings of this research introduce policies, possible advices and solutions associated with sustainability and medical waste management that can support decision-makers in developing strategies for the sustainability by using the eco-friendly technologies for efficient medical waste treatment and disposal methods and also can serve as a link between the healthcare system, decision-makers, and stakeholders in developing health policies and programmes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Pensiri Akkajit ◽  
Husna Romin ◽  
Mongkolchai Assawadithalerd ◽  
Issam A. Al-Khatib

Medical waste represents a significant health risk and an environmental pollution concern due to its hazardous characteristics. The knowledge and practice of healthcare personnel in respect of the disposal of medical waste is essential to perform effective medical waste management. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to medical waste management among healthcare workers in clinics (medical and dental clinics, specialized medical, laboratory clinics, polyclinics, and midwifery clinics) in Phuket, Thailand. A cross-sectional study was designed with stratified-random sampling used to select the sample of 344 respondents from 172 clinics of which data were collected using face-to-face interviews. The results showed that the majority of respondents (87.2%) were female of whom 36.9% were aged (20–29), 52.0% had more than 5 years working experience, and 51.2% had participated in at least one training course regarding medical waste management. The overall scores for knowledge, attitude, and practice were at a high level (89.5%, 91.9%, and 92.2%, respectively). Significant and positive correlations were found between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.464), knowledge and practice (r = 0.396), and practice and attitude (r = 0.519). Statistical analysis using t tests and one-way analysis of variance showed that working experience and its duration were significant factors influencing good medical waste management practice. However, local authorities should implement a well-planned collection and transfer process for medical waste in order to reduce the risk of environmental pollution and the risk of infection or injury to healthcare workers and the general public.


2016 ◽  
pp. 101-108
Author(s):  
Duy Tao Tran ◽  
Trong Si Hoang

Objective: Monitoring and evaluation of air environmental quality, waste water and medical waste management activities in some hospitals in the Central Highlands. Research Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive survey was deployed in 6 provincial hospitals of the Central Highlands in 7th- 8th months every year for 3 years, 2011, 2012, 2013. Observing the process of waste management in hospitals, weighing the medical solid waste generated daily, sampling and environmental monitoring of air, water waste samples after treatment of hospitals. Findings: The percentage of substandard sample of radioactive 2011 was 5.88%, in 2012 was 5%, 2013 was 0.02%. Mainly in dose laboratories, rinse the nuclear medicine department, hatch covers radioactive waste storage. 100% of the air sample of wastewater treatment areas have NO2 target and 60% of SO2 target sample have not reached allowed regulations. The atmosphere at the garbage area hospitals in Kon Tum and Lam Dong provinces through 2 years of monitoring in 2012, 2013 exceeded SO2 target standards. Monitoring results incinerator emissions sample at 3 hospitals: Kontum, Gia Lai, Dak Nong in 3 years reached Regulations allow. The observation sample treated waste water of the hospital in 2013 with low contamination rate than in 2011 and 2012 in terms of physics and chemistry. Particularly criteria Total coliforms 3 years are from 40-50% of samples exceeded standards. Regarding waste management, the results of monitoring in 2013 showed that 60% of faculties have sharps instruments and 20% of the faculties have satisfactory utensils anatomical waste. 59.48% of the faculties have the guidelines for waste separation. Condition misclassified not many and occur in two hospitals Gia Lai, Dak Lak. Only Lam Dong hospitals have waste transportation vehicles secured closed during transport. The amount of waste / beds / 24 hours is 1.097kg. In particular infectious waste is 0.26kg. Only two hospitals in Daklak, Lam Dong has generated radioactive waste with a total of 0.9 kg/day. Key words: Medical waste, medical waste management.


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