Knowledge and Practice of Healthcare Waste Management among Healthcare Workers at Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital (YDMH), Kaduna, Nigeria

Introduction: Hospital waste has been reported to be poorly handled and managed by the hospital staff and administration respectively, leading to environmental and health consequences within hospitals and to the population outside health facilities. Aim: To assess the knowledge and practice of healthcare waste management (HCWM) among healthcare workers at Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital (YDMH), Kaduna, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted amongst doctors, nurses, medical laboratory scientists and technicians, ward attendants, and cleaners at YDMH. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the study unit. A total of 73 health workers consented to an interview. The data was obtained through the administration of questionnaires on the knowledge of health workers while the practice was assessed by direct observation using a checklist. Data were collected and compiled using Microsoft Excel and analysed using IBM, SPSS version 23.0. Results: There were 39 (53.4%) males and 34 (46.4%) females in this study. The average age of participants was 36.8 ± 8.3 years. The study revealed good knowledge of waste management amongst nurses (88.18%), doctors (86.68%), medical laboratory scientists and technicians (77.48%), ward attendants (19.1%), and cleaners (17.5%), respectively. In practice, all the wards and departments observed do not have (0%) colour-coded plastic bags on their waste bins, with only 70% having their waste bins covered, 30% having posters to guide waste users displayed near the waste bins, and 0% waste treatment before disposal practice. The health facility’s method of final waste disposal is not in line with best practices. Conclusion: This study highlights the discrepancy and inadequacies of knowledge and practice of proper healthcare waste management among healthcare workers. The healthcare workers with adequate knowledge were the nurses, doctors, and medical laboratory scientists and technicians while the least knowledge was found amongst ward attendants and cleaners. The practice of healthcare waste management was poor across all professions. This calls for the need to train and retrain all health workers with emphasis on the ward attendants and cleaners. Also, there is a need for the provision of colour-coded waste bin liners in all wards and departments which should be adequately budgeted for by the management.