An analytical cross-sectional study on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on biomedical waste management among nurses and medical technologists in the Philippines / The Health Sciences Journal

INTRODUCTION@#Unregulated biomedical waste management is an emerging public health problem in the Philippines. This study aimed to differentiate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of nurses and medical technologists toward biomedical waste management.@*METHODS@#Using an analytic cross-sectional study design, an online survey of nurses and medical technologists from hospitals around the Philippines was conducted. A 27-item questionnaire covering knowledge, attitudes and practices was used. The percentages of correct answers and mean scores in each domain was compared between the nurses and medical technologists.@*RESULTS@#A total of 196 respondents consisting of 77 registered nurses and 119 medical technologists were included in the study. Medical technologists had significantly better knowledge scores than nurses on disposal procedures for expired blood units and by-products waste (55% vs. 19%, p = 0.026). Both had low correct responses on adequate disposal of human tissue remains, throwing blood waste into domestic waste, and throwing of expired medications in domestic waste. There was no significant difference in the attitude of nurses and medical technologists. Nurses had significantly better practice scores on disposal of liquid waste in bags (84.4% vs. 68.9, p = 0.018), but medical technologists fared better at disposal of human tissue together with other waste (13.0% vs. 2.5%, p = 0.006). @*CONCLUSION@#Both nurses and medical technologists had adequate knowledge of some aspects but were lacking in others. There was no significant difference in the attitude of nurses and medical technologists towards biomedical waste management. Half of the respondents practiced proper biomedical waste management.

The Level of Medical Technologists' Perception of and Compliance with Hospital Infection Control Guidelines / 병원감염관리

BACKGROUND: The propose of this study was to identify the level of medical technologists' perception of and compliance with hospital infection control guidelines. METHODS: A questionnaire survey was conducted for 65 medical technologists working at three university hospitals in Seoul and Kyunggi areas. The questionnaire was composed of 34 questions on the general characteristics (14 items) of individual responders and about infection control guidelines (20 items). Their response was marked on the basis of 5 points for each question. RESULTS: The mean scores of the perception of and compliance with the infection control guidelines were 4.62+/-0.34 and 3.85+/-0.42, respectively. The female technologists scored significantly higher than did the male counterparts in the participation level of the infection control guidelines (P<0.05). The medical technologists who had participated in an infection control educational program were more likely than those who had not to show a higher compliance level on the infection control guidelines (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The study demonstrated that the development of infection control educational programs for medical technologists and a supportive policy of the hospital administration should contribute to the prevention of nosocomial infections.

A Follow-up Study of Methods for Selecting Students for the School of Allied Health Sciences at Yamaguchi University / 医学教育

A follow-up study with multivariate analysis examined the relations of methods for selecting students, performance after admission, and scores on the national examinations for medical technologists and for nurse practitioners. The subjects were 247 students who had entered the division of laboratory medicine at the School of Allied Health Sciences, Yamaguchi University, from 1995 through 2000 and 484 students who had entered the division of nursing during the same period. Scores on examinations at the School of Allied Health Sciences and on national professional examinations did not differ between students who had been admitted on the basis of recommendations from high school principals (including an interview) and students who had been admitted on the basis of an open entrance examination (also including an interview). However, questions remained about the legitimacy of the high school records of students admitted on the basis of recommendations from high school principals but not of students admitted on the basis of an open entrance examination. Furthermore, the relevance of the interview during the open entrance examination for medical technologists and nurses was not recognized. In addition, for medical technology students who had been admitted on the basis of open entrance examinations, we found that scores on the national examination were correlated with the scores on the entrance examination and with their grades at the School of Allied Health Sciences.