Evaluation of Nursing Students' Medical Waste Knowledge Level

Authors : Özlem TOLUK, Aysel ÖZDEMİR, İbrahim ŞAHİN, Sinem YILDIZ, Şeyma Nur ERKUL, İlker ERCAN

Pages : 52-58

View : 26 | Download : 15

Publication Date : 2021-09-16

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Aim: Failure to properly manage medical waste potentially exposes healthcare professionals, waste handlers, patients, and the general public to risks such as infection, toxic effects, injuries, and environmental pollution. The study was planned in a descriptive cross-sectional type and it was aimed to evaluate the medical waste knowledge levels of nursing students. Methods: The sample consisted of 100 nursing students studying in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades of a state university. The Kuder Richardson 20 coefficient was found to be 0.744 by collecting data based on the selfreports of the participants with the questionnaire created by the researchers in the study. The level of significance is taken α=0.05. Categorical variables were analyzed with the Chi-Square test, Fisher's exact Chi-square test, and Fisher Freeman Halton test. Results: In our study, 70 (70.00%) people take a course on medical waste, 6 (6.00%) people work in any health institution. It was found that the rate at which medical waste bags should be filled and the evaluation of expired or unused drugs as pharmaceutical waste was statistically significant according to gender (p = 0.028, and p = 0.047). Conclusion: As nursing students take lectures or courses on medical waste, and their grade levels rise, their knowledge of medical waste increases. Based on the results of our study, increasing medical waste education is of great importance in terms of public health, personnel health, and environmental health
Keywords : Çevre Sağlığı, Halk Sağlığı, Hemşirelik Öğrencileri, Tıbbi Atıklar