The consciousness and practical in-depth knowledge of the nature of medical waste, its public and environmental implications serves as a veritable tool in the effective and efficient management of medical waste in any healthcare institution. Thus, this study considered the knowledge and practice of medical waste in small, medium and large hospital in Bayelsa State, South-south Nigeria. It is aimed at assessing waste management practices with respect to colour coding at the various healthcare institutions within the study area. A descriptive study design was considered and a sample size of 300 obtained using Cochran’s formula. A well-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. Data were analyzed using simple percentage and frequency including graphs and bar chart. Result indicated that the rate of awareness and utilization of colour code for medical waste segregation in the various hospitals was poor except the large hospital (63%). The poor awareness level observed in the Medium and small hospitals in this study could be attributed to paucity of waste management infrastructure in addition to medical waste management deficiency and policy implementation practices. Furthermore, it was discovered that the use of sharp receptacle was high in small hospital (56%) and large hospital (75%) as compared to Medium hospital (43%). Also, knowledge, awareness and practice of medical waste management across the various healthcare institutions revealed that the small hospital (79%), medium hospital 71% and the large hospital 75% are well abreast and thus have good understanding of medical waste management, albeit, proper medical waste management is in a state of limbo at the hospitals at the time of this study. Government at all levels should ensure adequate funding and encourage professional to handle medical waste management whereas staff of the various hospitals should be properly trained on significance of the utilization of colour coding.
Citation: Ikpokpo, E. and Bibye, A. A. S.(2022) Knowledge and Practice of Medical Waste Management in Small, Medium and Large Hospitals in Bayelsa State, European Journal of Biology and Medical Science Research, Vol.10, No.4, pp.,1-14
Keywords: Hazardous medical waste, incineration, medical waste management, non-hazardous medical waste, waste receptacles
