Status of biomedical waste management in nursing homes of delhi, India.

INTRODUCTION Improper management of biomedical waste (BMW) poses a risk for health and environment. Healthcare workers have an important responsibility to properly segregate and train the staff in its disposal. OBJECTIVE To study the awareness, attitude and practices of health care workers in biomedical waste management and to observe the appropriateness of the same in the private nursing homes in Delhi, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted among private nursing homes in Delhi. In both south and east zones, 116 nursing homes were selected by random sampling method. Data was collected using a validated questionnaire of WHO. Data was analysed using SPSS software (version 16). Chi-square or fisher tests were used and accepted statistically significant if p-value was less than 0.05. RESULTS 41.7% of the workers in south zone and 25% in east zone had no knowledge about BMW generation (χ2=24.26, p=0.001). 57 (95%) workers in south zone and 55 (98.2%) in east zone agreed strongly that BMW management is helpful in reducing spread diseases in the community (χ2=1.22, p=0.5). On observation, it was found that 13 (21.7%) nursing homes in south zone and 15 (26.8%) in east zone did not have black bags. Practice of biomedical waste management in nursing homes in both the zones of Delhi was poor. CONCLUSION The study concluded that the awareness regarding biomedical waste management was not satisfactory among health care workers in private sector. There is a need of strict implementation of guidelines of BMW management.