Original Research Article
Year: 2021 | Month: September | Volume: 11 | Issue: 9 | Pages: 41-48
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijhsr.20210906
Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Biomedical Waste Management as Per 2019 Rules among Nursing Students
Surya Kant Tiwari1, Saumya P. Srivastava2, Soni Chauhan3
1Lecturer, Yatharth Nursing College and Paramedical Institute, Chandauli, U.P.
2Lecturer, Vivekananda College of Nursing, Lucknow, U.P.
3Lecturer, Yatharth Nursing College and Paramedical Institute, Chandauli, U.P.
Corresponding Author: Soni Chauhan
ABSTRACT
Introduction- Biomedical waste is of global subject today. The biomedical waste (management and handling) rules came into existence in 1998 with the latest amendment being made in 2019.
Methods- This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried among 163 nursing students to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding biomedical waste management as per 2019 rules using total enumeration method. Nursing students who had clinical exposure >6 months and willing to participate were included in the study. Nursing students who were in their 1st academic year were excluded. The questionnaire was divided into four components assessing knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding biomedical waste management. The obtained scores of participants were converted into percentages and categorized as excellent (> 70%) and poor (< 70%).
Results- Mean age of participants was 21.54 + 2.49 years with the majority being female (81.6%) and studying in B.Sc. nursing (59.5%). Majority of participants had poor level of knowledge in various domains of biomedical waste management like awareness (78.5%), color coding (84.7%), biomedical waste disposal methods (92.6%), and universal precautions (97.5%) except for biomedical waste hazard symbol (15.3%). About 95.1% of participants had overall poor knowledge regarding biomedical waste management. Nearly 76.1% and 74.2% of participants showed positive attitudes and safe practice patterns respectively.
Conclusion- Although nursing student’s attitudes and patterns of practice were excellent yet they had an unsatisfactory level of knowledge related to recent amendments in biomedical waste management rules, 2019. Regular teaching and periodic monitoring of practices regarding biomedical waste are highly recommended.
Key words: knowledge, attitude, practices, biomedical waste, nursing students.