Compliance to National Healthcare Waste Management Guidelines by Healthcare Workers and Facilities in Abakaliki South-East Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Healthcare wastes are wastes generated across different healthcare settings (hospitals, laboratory, nursing homes, etc). Poor management of these wastes potentially exposes health workers, waste handlers, patients and public to infection. Objectives: To explore knowledge and practice of healthcare waste management (HCWM) among health workers as well as adherence to national healthcare waste management guidelines by health-care facilities in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study of 350 respondents (nurses, medical laboratory scientists and cleaning staff) selected from four healthcare facilities in Abakaliki. Data were collected with semi-structured questionnaires and were analysed using IBM-SPSS version 25. Results: The respondents were composed of nurses (49.1%), medical laboratory scientists (32.3%) and cleaning staff (18.6%). The mean age was 32.6 ± 4.5 years and mean work experience was 4.9 ±2.1 years. Among the respondents, 55(15.7%) had completed secondary education and 284(81.1%) tertiary education. More than three-quarter, 275(78.6%) had received training in HCWM. The mean knowledge and practice scores were 88.2% and 92.1% respectively. The mean facility implementation of national HCWM plan score was 36.4%. Conclusion: The study revealed high knowledge and practice of HCWM among respondents and low facility implementation of national HCWM guidelines. It is therefore recommended that health managers should ensure full and proper facility implementation of national HCWM guidelines vis-a-vis provision of standard operating procedures, administrative support and regular staff training program.