Practice Regarding Biomedical Waste Management Among Supporting Staff in a Hospital

Abstract

Background: Biomedical waste has high potential for infections and injuries. Effective biomedical waste management is vital in the health care delivery system, and it could possibly be achieved through standard practices with safety measures. As supporting staff plays a significant role in proper waste management, this study aims to assess the level of practice regarding biomedical waste management among supporting staff in a hospital.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 109 supporting staff working in the general wards of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH). The consecutive sampling technique was used to collect data. After ethical approval Data were collected by using a structured interview schedule within 2 weeks and was analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the personal characteristics. Inferential statistics were used to measure the association between the level of practice and selected variables.

Results: The study findings revealed that the majority of the respondents (84.4%) had adequate practice regarding biomedical waste management, 15.6% had moderately adequate practice, and none of them had inadequate practice. A statistically significant association was found between the level of practice and age (p=0.003), working area (p=0.001), duration of work experience (p=0.034), and history of needle stick injury (p=0.045) of the respondents.

Conclusion: This study concludes that more than four-fifths of the supporting staff had adequate practice regarding biomedical waste management. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct refresher training program for supporting staff in frequent time interval to enhance and sustain safe practices.