Practices of Nurses on Medical Waste Segregation at Selected Health Care Facilities in Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province

Abstract

Background: Medical waste is a concern because it can cause potential environmental hazards and public health risks. Nurses produce medical waste when carrying out their daily health activities. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to describe the practices of nurses on medical waste segregation at selected health care facilities in Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province. Methodology: A quantitative approach and cross-sectional design were used. The setting of the study was the primary health care facilities in Ephraim Mogale, Sekhukhune District, Limpopo Province. The population of this study were nurses and the total population sampling was used. Out of 147 questionnaires, 133 questionnaires were returned. Data was collected through a self-administered questionnaire and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26. Graphs and tables were used to present results. Ethical considerations were observed. Results: The findings showed that 88.7% of the respondents were females and 11.3% were males. More than half of the respondents (54.1%) were above 35 years, 69.9% were professional nurses, 10.5% were staff nurses and 19.5% were assistant nurses, and 27.1%% had 0-5 years of experience. Findings also revealed that 77.4% of the respondents had excellent knowledge, 21.1% had a good knowledge and 1.5% had poor knowledge of medical waste segregation. Most respondents (77.4%) had an excellent practice, 21.8% had good practice and 0.8% had poor practice. Conclusion: It was concluded that nurses in Sekhukhune District, Ephraim Mogale sub-district had knowledge and practices of medical waste segregation in place but still lack knowledge about colour coding and lack practice on labelling and replacing medical waste containers. Recommendations: it is recommended that training on the management of medical waste must be done frequently to increase the existing knowledge and practices.