Effect of an educational program for Nurses working in Maternal and Child Health Care Centers about Health Care Waste Management

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Community Health Nursing department, Faculty of Nursing, Zagazig University

2 Lecturer of Community Health Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Port- Said University

Abstract

Background: The problem of how to properly dispose of healthcare waste has been a serious challenge. The aim of this research was to evaluate the effect of an educational program for nurses working in Maternal and Child Health Care Centers about health care waste management. Design: A quasi-experimental design was used. Settings: This research took place at 16 Maternal and Child Health Care Centers in Zagazig City, Sharikia Governorate, Egypt, which were chosen randomly from 34 Maternal and Child Health Care Centers and all nurses in MCH centers, was recruited for this study. Sample: A simple random sample of 99 nurses from the Maternal and Child Health Care Centers. Tools: Two tools were used for data collection. Tool I: Data were collected about nurses' socio-demographic characteristics and their knowledge about waste management before and after the program using a self-administered knowledge questionnaire. Tool II: To evaluate nurses' waste management practices using an observation checklist. Results: The total good knowledge level in pre-intervention was 57.6%, which improved to 94.9% after one month of intervention. Furthermore, the total score of nurses' practices increased from 28.3% at pre-intervention to 71.7% after one-month post-intervention. Conclusion: It was concluded that the educational program effectively improved nurses’ knowledge and practices, while the practice concerning controlling health care waste is still inadequate. There was a highly statistically significant positive linear correlation between the nurses’ knowledge and reported practices regarding the management of healthcare waste before and after applying the educational program p < 0.01. Recommendations: Pre-employment health education programs should be provided for Egyptian nurses on biomedical waste management with orientation to organization, and they must be checked regularly. 

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