Estratégia educativa sobre manejo de resíduos sólidos de saúde na unidade de terapia intensiva

Abstract

Objective: To assess the effect of an educational intervention on the knowledge of Intensive Care Unit professionals regarding medical waste. Methods: Experimental study conducted in 2015 at a public hospital of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, with 41 healthcare professionals who were submitted to an educational strategy that used a flipchart on solid waste, comparing their knowledge before and after a test using a formulary adapted from the literature. The t test and binominal test were used for statistical analysis with p<0.05. Results: After the educational intervention, there was a statistically significant difference in the mean score between pre-test (19.6 ± 3.2) and post-test (24.1 ± 2.8), p=0,001.The category on common waste was the one with the highest number of errors among healthcare professionals. Conclusion: The educational strategy enhanced healthcare professionals’ knowledge on the medical waste, which may favor the reduction of occupational accidents in health care and material expenses.