Green practice guideline program regrading waste management on nurses’ knowledge and practice in intensive care units

Abstract

Abstract---Background: Hospitals all over the world looking forward to become more sustainable and get rid of medical waste which resulting in environmental pollution, misallocation and increased costs for medical facilities. The study was carried out at Ain shams University Hospitals and which included surgical, medical and cardiac (ICU). A convenient sample of 60 nurses were included. Study tools: A structured self-administrated questionnaire, waste reduction and prevention checklist, and barriers of green practice regarding waste management questionnaire. Results: (91.7%) of the studied nurses have unsatisfactory level of total knowledge about green practice pre guideline program implementation while (93.3%) of them improved to satisfactory level post implementation and slightly decreased to (90%)at follow-up phase. Also, (93.3%) of the studied nurses have unsatisfactory level of total practice pre guideline program implementation while (94.6%) of them improved to satisfactory level post program implementation and slightly decreased to (93.1%) at follow-up phase. mean and standard deviation of the barriers of application of green practice regarding waste management in ICU as; administrative barriers was 1.12 ± 0.87 in the surgical ICU nurses compared to 1.45 ± 1.110 and 1.37±0.94 in the medical and cardiac ICU nurses. Conclusion: the educational guideline program for green practice regarding waste management in ICU was effective to enhance nurses’ knowledge and practice score among ICU nurses. Recommendation: Continuous training program about green practice and waste management among critical care nurses is crucial.