An Interventional Study to Improve the Healthcare Waste Management Among Nursing Officers in Type-A Base Hospital in Southern Province - Sri Lanka

Abstract

Clinical waste management is a burning issue worldwide. Environmental pollution and associated health risks, including disease transmission and social problems are the main consequences of this issue. The most governments are paying more attention to develop effective and efficient healthcare waste management in the curative health sector. This intervention project was conducted among the nursing staff at the Type A Basic Hospital in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka to improve the healthcare waste management among Nursing Officers attached to the hospital. An initial assessment was conducted to determine the waste generation and segregation practices of the hospital. Staff knowledge and waste management practices were assessed, as well as available segregation facilities, and interventions were designed and implemented. A post-intervention analysis was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention. The main problems identified were lack of equipment, poor knowledge on health care waste management, and lack of proper guidelines developed by hospital management for proper health care waste management. A new guideline with waste segregation colour coding and practice was developed to improve knowledge of waste segregation, temporary storage, transport, and final disposal. Several training sessions were held for nurses. The improvement in knowledge and practice after the intervention was statistically significant (P = 0.001). The package of strategies such as improvement of knowledge, system change, transferring ownership of the project, provision of basic equipment, supervision and experience sharing has been successful in meeting project goals, and continuing professional training and supervision is recommended to ensuring sustainability.