Assessing the medical waste management practices and associated risk perceptions in Algarve hospitals, Portugal

Ferreira, Vera; Ribau Teixeira, Margarida

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/1124

Use this identifier to reference this record.

Name:	Description:	Size:	Format:
1-356paper_long.pdf		287.96 KB	Adobe PDF	Download

Send Feedback

Authors

Ferreira, Vera

Ribau Teixeira, Margarida

Abstract(s)

In the past few years, there has been an increase in public concern about the medical wastes management on a global basis and a significant effort has been directed toward proper and safe management of hazardous medical wastes. However, if there is not a clear understanding of the risks, inadequate management practices are often implemented. The objective of this study was to analyse the medical waste management practice of hospitals in Algarve (Portugal), analyse the risk perception of medical staff (nurses, doctors and housekeepers) and assess the risk for medical staff. This study was carried out in the three hospitals, one public and two private. Field visits and questionnaires survey method was implemented to collect information regarding different medical waste management aspects and the perception of risk associated with medical wastes by the medical staff. The risk assessment was based in real injuries data associated with sharps and needles (estimate of infections) and in inadequate wastes separation, i.e. frequency of errors in separation. There are some problems in the medical waste management in all hospitals due to lack of training and resources. Nurse’s group show slightly higher knowledge about medical wastes separation, with 71.6% correct answers, and doctor’s group lower knowledge, with 64.8% correct answers. Only 26% of doctors participated in training programs and this medical staff group evidences a lower perception of risk associated of the infectious wastes (group IV wastes). The separation about pharmaceuticals, cytotoxic and pathological waste has more errors, which in reality can be reflected in a higher percentage of inadequate treatment and final disposal, and has impacts in medical workers and environment. Most injuries from needlestick/sharp occur during patient care, but there are medical wastes risk associated, mainly linked to the deposition in containers and separation errors of this material. However, only HVB is likely to occur in hospitals, in coming years if the prophylaxis is not 100%. Results indicate the waste management is affected by perception of risk and training programs.

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/1124

Citation

Ferreira, Vera; Margarida Ribau Teixeira. Assessing the medical waste management practices and associated risk perceptions in Algarve hospitals, Portugal. Trabalho apresentado em ISWA/APESB WORLD CONGRESS 2009. In Proceedings of the ISWA/APESB WORLD CONGRESS 2009, Lisboa, 2009.