Examination of 112 emergency health service station employees' awareness and attitudes towards medical waste management: Van province example

This study aimed to investigate the awareness and attitudes of 112 Emergency Health Services (EHS) station employees in Van towards medical waste management. In the survey form, healthcare professionals were asked to indicate their level of participation in judgments considering medical waste management practices at the 112 emergency health services stations where they work. The study population consisted of 446 healthcare workers working at 48 112 emergency health services stations in Van province and its districts, while the sample consisted of 302 healthcare workers who participated in the survey. The demographic information form included 14 questions, including information such as age, gender, profession, length of service, and educational background, as well as questions regarding the operational procedures of medical waste management. A 24-item, 5-point Likert-type Medical Waste Attitude and Behavior Scale was used to assess healthcare personnel's awareness, behavior, cognitive, and attentional dimensions. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Regarding the internal consistency of the scale, Cronbach's alpha coefficients were 0.85 and above for all sub-dimensions except the attention dimension. The internal consistency coefficient was 0.97 for the awareness dimension, 0.88 for the behavioral sub-dimension, 0.85 for the cognitive sub-dimension, 0.80 for the attention sub-dimension, and 0.97 for the overall scale. The research results indicated that while the level of medical waste awareness among healthcare workers at 112 emergency health services stations is generally high, there is a need for improvement in their behavior and attention levels. The research results suggest that institutional audits should be conducted at regular intervals to contribute to the medical waste management process and to increasing knowledge, awareness, and attitudes toward medical waste. In-service training should be provided not only to personnel responsible for medical waste collection but also to all healthcare workers.