Healthcare Workers' Knowledge about the Segregation Process of Infectious Medical Waste Management in a Hospital.

ABSTRACT

Any hospital's primary goal is to restore human health and save lives through health services provided to patients, but at the same time, hazardous wastes are produced. Inconsistent management of unsafe wastes might cause adverse effects and other issues for workers, the environment, and public health. Segregation is considered the critical stage in successful medical waste management. Mixing hazardous medical waste with non-hazardous medical waste will be avoided by correctly applying practices at the segregation stage. This study aimed to assess personnel's knowledge about infectious medical waste and segregation practices used at six wards in Nicosia General Hospital. An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted, and data were collected through a structured self-administered questionnaire. The Statistical Package of Social Science (SPPS) version 25 was used with a minimum statistical significance of α = 0.05. The study population was nurses, nurse assistants, ward assistants, and cleaners working at the study wards. Out of 191 questionnaires, 82 were received, with a response rate of 42.93%. Most participants were female (72%) and nurses (85.4%). Participants had moderate knowledge about infectious medical waste management and good knowledge regarding segregation practices applied in their ward. Segregation was not carried out as it should have been, since most participants stated that infectious medical waste was mixed with non-hazardous medical waste. The number of correct answers the participants gave regarding the colour-coding of different medical waste categories was 67.5%, and only four answered correctly to all questions. Although participants knew segregation practices and the colour-coding process applied to medical waste, they did not use them satisfactorily. They applied methods regarding segregation without specific training, knowledge and guidance. Due to the issue's importance, training programs must be implemented and performed.