EFFECTIVENESS OF STRUCTURED TEACHING PROGRAMME ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING BIOMEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT AMONG NURSING STUDENTS

Medical care is vital for our life , health and well being. But the waste generated from medical activities can be hazardous, toxic and even lethal because of their high potential for disease transmission. The hazardous and toxic part of waste from health care establishments comprising infections, biomedical and radioactive material as well as sharps constitute a grave risk, if these are not properly treated / disposed or is allowed to get mixed with other municipal waste. With a judicious planning and management, however, the risk can be considerably reduced. Proper training of health care establishment personnel at all levels coupled with sustained motivation can improve the situation considerably. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of planned teaching programme on biomedical waste management among nursing students. An evaluative research approach was used for this study. The sample comprised of 50 students belonging to the age above 18 years selected by using simple random sampling technique. The results showed that the mean post-test knowledge score (20.6 ) was higher than the pre-test score (10.92) and the calculated ‘t' value (12.48) was also greater than the table value (2.008) at 0.005 level of significance. the study revealed that the Structured Teaching Programme was effective in improving the management of biomedical waste in the hospitals