Impact of an educational training about healthcare waste management on practices skills of healthcare workers: a prexperimental study in a tertiary Tunisian hospital

BACKGROUND: Healthcare waste (HCW) poses a global hazard, particularly in developing country hospitals where mismanagement is common due to poor practices among staff. Training healthcare workers has shown promise in enhancing practices and behaviors. The aim of this study was to assessHCW management at Sahloul University Hospital (2019-2021) before and after training sessions. METHODS: This study was conducted at Sahloul University in Sousse, Tunisia, spanned two years (2019-2021) and consisted of three distinct stages. Two audits of Healthcare Waste Management (HCWM) were conducted using a predetermined assessment framework derived from ANGED's guidelines, with an educational session separating the two audits. RESULTS: In terms of sorting practicesthere was a substantial improvement in sorting practices following training. Specifically, the overall compliance rate for sorting sharps increased from 60.3 to 77.6% (p < 10 - 3), and for sorting soft and solid waste, it rose from 32.5 to 72.4% (p < 10 - 3) in 2021. Overall, resource indicators demonstrated improvement between 2019 and 2021, the compliance rate for the intra-service collection step increased from 31.3 to 58.2%. However, we observed persistent inadequacies in container and bag labeling, as well as challenges in tracing the time of healthcare waste collection. CONCLUSION: Training led to significant improvements in HCW management practices among healthcare workers, though some areas still need enhancement.