A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Self Instructional Module (SIM) on Knowledge and Practices Regarding Biomedical Waste Management among Staff Nurses Working in Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

Background: Hospital waste adds to the risk for patients and personnel who handle these wastes. Mishandling of Biomedical Waste poses a threat to public health and environment. Adequate knowledge about the health hazards of hospital waste, proper technique and methods of handling the waste and practice of safety measures can go a long towards the safe disposal of hazardous hospital waste and protects the community from various adverse effects of the hazardous waste. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of Self Instructional Module regarding the management of Biomedical Waste among the Staff Nurses working in different wards at Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. METHODOLOGY: This pre-experimental study included 30 Staff Nurses in different wards of I. G. M. C. and Hospital, Shimla. Non-probability convenient sampling technique was used to select the 30 staff nurses. The data was collected by self-administered tool consisting of 30 questions to evaluate their knowledge and checklist of 20 questions to evaluate practices regarding the management of Biomedical Waste. RESULT: The study findings depict that in pre-test, 50 % Staff Nurses had good knowledge and 50 % had average knowledge while in post-test, 100 % Staff Nurses had good knowledge regarding Biomedical Waste Management. It also revealed that in pre-test, 60 % Staff Nurses had good practices and 40 % had average practices while in post-test, 96.7 % Staff Nurses had good practices and 3.3 % had average practices regarding Biomedical Waste Management. The pre-test knowledge score was 70.11 % and post-test knowledge score was 89.33 %. It showed difference of 19.22 %. And the pre-test practice score was 75.17 % and post-test practice score was 86.83 %. It showed difference of 11.67 %. Hence, Self Instructional Module on Biomedical Waste Management was effective. CONCLUSION: Self Instructional Module was proved effective in enhancing the knowledge and improving the practices regarding the management of Biomedical Waste Management.