A study on knowledge and practice regarding biomedical waste management among staff nurses and nursing students of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranchi

Background: Hospitals are the centre of cure and also the important centres of infectious waste generation. Effective management of Biomedical Waste (BMW) is not only a legal necessity but also a social responsibility. Aims and Objectives: To assess the knowledge and practice in managing the biomedical wastes among nursing staff and student nurses in RIMS, Ranchi. Materials and methods: The study was conducted at RIMS, Ranchi from Oct 2013 to March 2014 (6 months). It was a descriptive, hospital based, cross-sectional study. A total of 240 nurses participated in the present study, randomly chosen from various departments A pre-designed, pre-tested, structured proforma was used for data collection after getting their informed consent. Self-made scoring system was used to categorize the participants as having good, average and poor scores. Data was tabulated and analyzed using percentages and chi-square test. Results: The knowledge regarding general information about BMW management was assessed(with scores 0-8),it was found that level of knowledge was better in student nurses than staff nurses as student nurses scored good(6-8correct answers) in more than half of the questions (65%).Whereas staff nurses scored good in only 33.33% questions. When the practical information regarding the BMW management is assessed (with scores 0-8), it was found that staff nurses had relatively better practice regarding BMW management than students as they scored good(6-8correct answers) in 40% and 30% respectively. Conclusion: Though overall knowledge of study participants was good but still they need good quality training to improve their current knowledge about BMW