Investigation of Healthcare Waste Management Practices in Healthcare Departments of Federal University of Allied Health Sciences Enugu (FUAHSE) Nigeria

The alarming rate at which healthcare wastes are produced in healthcare setting has become a great source of concern due to the dangers associated with them. This research investigated the practical ways of managing biomedical wastes produced by the healthcare departments of Federal university of Allied health Sciences Enugu (FUAHSE). This study established common practices used in managing healthcare wastes in the university, the types of biomedical wastes generated within healthcare departments, assessed their compliance to standard regulations, ascertained how the healthcare care workers manage the wastes generated, identified barriers the healthcare departments face in implementing regulation and identified strategies for improving practices within the departments. The Health Belief Model theory which helps to explain the knowledge, attitude and respondents’ behaviors, the planned behavior theory which examined the effects of the respondents’ attitude on their practices, environmental management theory and Systems theory which examined how the interdependent units within the university interact to influence the effectiveness of practice in the university formed the theoretical basis of the study. Sixty-five respondents were chosen randomly with each department treated as a stratum and the respondents were selected within each stratum. Structured questionnaires and observation checklists were used as instruments for data collection while data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The outcome of the study, indicates that the practices of the healthcare departments regarding healthcare wastes were very poor. The major challenges identified were inadequate training, lack of sufficient resources and equipment, lack of standard regulation enforcement. The study recommended provision of adequate resources and equipment, continuous staff training and improved policies enactment to enhance practices.