Biomedical waste management: assessment of knowledge, attitude and practice among health care workers

Background: The waste produced in healthcare activities carries a high potential for infection and injury than any other type of waste. Inadequate knowledge of biomedical waste (BMW) management can lead to serious health consequences and an adverse impact on environment. The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of BMW management among healthcare workers of government T. D. medical college, Alappuzha. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among staff and students of government T. D. medical college, Alappuzha. Stratified sampling was done and data was collected using semi structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 26 software. Results: The majority of faculty and nurses had good knowledge about segregation of waste into yellow and red coded bags. Nurses, students and residents had good knowledge about waste disposal into white coded containers whereas into blue coded containers was seen in lesser proportion among all categories of health care workers. All the nurses and majority of the faculty had corrected attitude towards BMW management. Assessment of practice revealed that 50% of the nurses practiced proper BMW management and the proportion was much lower among all other categories of health care workers. Conclusions: Knowledge about infectious plastic waste and sharp waste disposal was low among students and faculty respectively. Knowledge about metallic and glassware disposal was low among all categories of health care workers. Attitude towards BMW management was low among students and residents and its practice was inadequate among all categories of health care workers.

Validation of a Cognitive Task Simulation and Rehearsal Tool for Open Carpal Tunnel Release

BACKGROUND: Carpal tunnel release is one of the most common surgical procedures performed by hand surgeons. The authors created a surgical simulation of open carpal tunnel release utilizing a mobile and rehearsal platform app. This study was performed in order to validate the simulator as an effective training platform for carpal tunnel release. METHODS: The simulator was evaluated using a number of metrics: construct validity (the ability to identify variability in skill levels), face validity (the perceived ability of the simulator to teach the intended material), content validity (that the simulator was an accurate representation of the intended operation), and acceptability validity (willingness of the desired user group to adopt this method of training). Novices and experts were recruited. Each group was tested, and all participants were assigned an objective score, which served as construct validation. A Likert-scale questionnaire was administered to gauge face, content, and acceptability validity. RESULTS: Twenty novices and 10 experts were recruited for this study. The objective performance scores from the expert group were significantly higher than those of the novice group, with surgeons scoring a median of 74% and medical students scoring a median of 45%. The questionnaire responses indicated face, content, and acceptability validation. CONCLUSIONS: This mobile-based surgical simulation platform provides step-by-step instruction for a variety of surgical procedures. The findings of this study help to demonstrate its utility as a learning tool, as we confirmed construct, face, content, and acceptability validity for carpal tunnel release. This easy-to-use educational tool may help bring surgical education to a new—and highly mobile—level.