Knowledge Regarding Biomedical Waste Management among the Staff Nurses

Background Biomedical waste means any waste which is generated during the diagnosis, treatment or immunization of human beings or research activities pertaining their production or testing of human anatomical waste, animal waste, microbiology and biotechnological wastes, waste sharps, discarded medicine and cytotoxic drugs, solid wastes liquid waste incineration ash, chemical waste etc. So inadequate knowledge of handling of healthcare waste may have serious health consequences and a significant impact on the patients and their environment. The objective was to assess the knowledge of staff nurses regarding biomedical waste management. Materials and Methods The study was conducted at SSH, BHU Varanasi. It was a descriptive and cross-sectional study. A total of 50 staff nurses participated in the present study, randomly chosen from various departments. Results Showed that the staff nurses had average knowledge regarding biomedical waste management. The planned teaching programme was found effective because post test knowledge was better than the pre test knowledge score among staff nurses. Conclusion Nurses should be given a opportunity to update their knowledge regarding bio-medical waste management so that the importance of training regarding biomedical waste management needs emphasis, lack of proper and complete knowledge about biomedical waste management impacts practices of appropriate waste disposal.