Abstract:

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of waste management is to collect, sort, recycle and dispose of wastes economically without harming human health and the environment. In our study it was aimed to investigate the knowledge level of Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University hospital staff on waste management by applying a questionnaire. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Two hundred and sixty one participants working at Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University Hospital between January 2020 and July 2020 were included in the study. A questionnaire consisting of 20 questions was administered to the participants about their educational status, place of duty and title, educational status, exposure and level of knowledge about medical waste. RESULTS: Of the participants, 101 (38.7%) were male and 160 (61.3%) were female. Regarding the job titles of the participants, 42 (16.1%) research assistants, 38 (14.6%) academicians, 112 (42.9%) nurses, 21 (8%) cleaning staff and 48 (18.4%) medical students participated in the study. It was determined that 194 (74.3%) of the participants received training on waste management at least once, and 128 (49.4%) read the hospital waste procedure at least once. Only 41 (15.7%) of the employees answered the question about who was responsible for medical waste in hospitals, by saying they were chief physicians. While the majority of the participants answered the color of the bag that should be put in medical waste as red, 255 (97.7%) correctly, the correct answer rate was 194 (74.3%) for domestic wastes and 133 (51%) for glass packaging wastes. It was seen that nurses got the highest score from the information questions about waste management, while the cleaning staff got the lowest score. CONCLUSIONS: Although the rate of healthcare workers who received training on medical waste in our study was 74.3%, the rate of correct answers to all questions was lower. When the scores given to the questions about waste management were examined, it was determined that only 30 (11.4%) people received full points, and the lowest scorers were the cleaning personnel, the group most exposed to waste. One of the striking results of our study is that the rate of correct recognition of the colors of the waste bags other than the red medical waste bag color is very low. Based on this, we believe that it is necessary to emphasize the domestic and glass waste procedure again in the trainings.

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