Barriers to Green Practice regarding Waste Management among Operating Room Nurses

Abstract

waste reduction is another way in which nurses can “green” the operating room in addition to proper segregation. Because many nurses may support environmental practices on a personal level, nurses can add valuable information and recommendations to reduce, reuse, and recycle municipal solid waste . The aim of this study was to assess the barriers to the green practice regarding waste management among operating room Nurses. Research design: A descriptive exploratory study was done. Setting: This study was conducted at general operating rooms in El-Demrdash Hospital, Cairo, Egypt. Sample: A convenient sample of 45 nurses who accepted to participate in the study. First tool; Nurse’s self - administrated questionnaire was used which included two parts: (1) demographic characteristics of studied nurses. (2) Nurse’s knowledge about green practice regarding waste management. Second tool: Waste reduction and prevention checklist. Third tool: Barriers of green practice regarding waste management questionnaire. Results: Studied nurses had unsatisfactory total knowledge and practice about medical waste management and green practices in operating rooms. Closer to half of studied nurses reported human barriers as one of the barriers facing the application of green practice regarding waste management in the operating room. There was no statistically significant relation between the studied nurse’s knowledge and training and years of experience. And there was no statistically significant relation between the studied nurse’s practice and educational level, training and years of experience. Conclusion : The result of current study concluded that all of studied nurses had lack of knowledge and practice regarding green practice in operating room so human resources came at the first as a barrier followed by infrastructure so the study recommended the importance of implementation educational program for nurses regarding green practice in operating rooms.