An Evaluation of Staff Engagement with Infectious Healthcare Waste Management Policies: A Case Study of Tunisia.
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SUBMITTER: Maaroufi K
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7084811 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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An Evaluation of Staff Engagement with Infectious Healthcare Waste Management Policies: A Case Study of Tunisia.
Maaroufi Kaouther K Tudor Terry T Vaccari Mentore M Siala Afef A Mahmoudi Ezzeddine E
International journal of environmental research and public health 20200305 5
This study evaluated the engagement of staff regarding infectious healthcare waste management, in two case-study universities in Tunisia. Using a questionnaire survey, it was found that the most significant reported factors that influenced engagement were the availability of technical sheets and posters, training and education programs, and the age range of the staff. While there was some accordance with the Tunisian Decree application <i>n</i>° 2008-2745 of July 28th, 2008, as well as internati ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundHealth care or biomedical waste, if not managed properly, can be of high risk to the hospital staff, the patients, the community, public health and the environment, especially in low and middle income settings where proper disposal norms are often not followed. Our aim was to explore perceptions of staff of an Indian rural tertiary care teaching hospital on hospital waste management.MethodA qualitative study was conducted using 10 focus group discussions (FGDs), with different professional groups, cleaning staff, nurses, medical students, doctors and administrators. The FGD guide included the following topics: (i) role of Health Care Waste Management (HCWM) in prevention of health care associated infections, (ii) awareness of and views about HCWM-related guidelines/legislation, (iii) current HCWM practices, (iv) perception and preparedness related to improvements of the current practices, and (v) proper implementation of the available guidelines/legislation. The FGDs were recorded, transcribed verbatim, translated to English (when conducted in Hindi) and analysed using content analysis.ResultsTwo themes were identified: Theme (A), 'Challenges in integration of HCWM in organizational practice,' with the categories (I) Awareness and views about HCWM, (II) Organizational practices regarding HCWM, and (III) Challenges in Implementation of HCWM; and Theme (B), 'Interventions to improve HCWM,' with three categories, (I) Educational and motivational interventions, (II) Organizational culture change, and (III) Policy-related interventions.ConclusionA gap between knowledge and actual practice regarding HCWM was highlighted in the perception of the hospital staff. The participants suggested organizational changes, training and monitoring to address this. The information generated is relevant not merely to the microsystem studied but to other institutions in similar settings.
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Project description:BackgroundHealth care workers (HCWs) involved in day-to-day care and other healthcare activities play a significant role in biomedical waste (BMW) management. The World Health Organization stated some of the causes for the failure of BMW management, namely, lack of awareness of the health hazards related to BMW and inadequate trained HCWs in BMW management. The present study assessed knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) towards BMW management among the HCWs in northern Saudi Arabia.MethodologyThe present study assessed KAP through a self-administered and validated questionnaire. Using a multistage probability sampling method, 384 HCWs from different healthcare facilities participated in this survey. We performed binomial logistic regression analysis to find association between KAP subscales and sociodemographic characteristics. Spearman's correlation test was performed to find the strength and direction of correlation (rho) between KAP scores.ResultsOf the population studied, high knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were found in 47.1%, 65.1%, and 49.5% of the HCWs, respectively. The present study found that knowledge score was significantly higher among the age group from 30 to 39 years (ref: age less than 30 years: AOR = 2.25, 95% CI [1.05-4.85], p = 0.04) and non- Saudi nationals (ref: Saudi: AOR = 2.84, 95% CI [1.63-4.94], p < 0.001) The attitude score towards BMW management was significantly lower among the HCWs working in tertiary care settings (ref: PHC: AOR = 0.38, 95% CI [0.12-0.69], p = 0.01). Regarding the practice score, the male categories had a significantly higher score (ref: female: AOR = 1.82, 95% CI [1.19 -2.99], p = 0.02), while pharmacist (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.39, 95% CI [0.18-0.58], p = 0.02) and lab technicians (ref: physicians: AOR = 0.31, 95% CI [0.11-0.53], p = 0.02) had a significant lower practice score. The test results revealed a weak positive correlation of knowledge with the attitude scores (rho = 0.249, p = 0.001), and a moderately strong positive correlation was found between attitude and practice scores (rho = 0.432, p = 0.001).ConclusionThis study suggests that a regular training program for the HCWs on BMW management is necessary through symposiums, role play, interactive lectures, and other feasible training methods. Furthermore, a multicentric prospective exploratory study is to be conducted in other regions of the KSA to understand the region-specific training needs of HCWs.
| S-EPMC9308458 | biostudies-literature