THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LEVEL OF NURSES’ KNOWLEDGE AND THE SUITABILITY OF MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT AT LINGGAJATI REGIONAL HOSPITAL

Medical waste is generated from healthcare activities and has the potential to cause
negative impacts on public health and the environment if not managed properly. A
preliminary study at RSUD Linggajati revealed that medical waste management practices
were not fully aligned with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), including an incident
where a sanitation worker was pricked by a syringe during internal waste transport and
improper waste placement was observed. This study aims to analyze the relationship
between nurses’ level of knowledge and the compliance of medical waste management
based on Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) at RSUD Linggajati.
This research used a quantitative method with a cross-sectional approach. The instruments
employed were questionnaires and observation sheets. The sampling technique was total
sampling with 85 nurse respondents. The study was conducted in June 2025 at RSUD
Linggajati. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square test to examine the relationship
between two categorical variables.
The results showed that 49 respondents (57.6%) had a good level of knowledge, and 52
respondents (61.2%) carried out medical waste management in accordance with SOPs.
The Chi-Square test yielded a p-value of 0.006 (<0.05), indicating a statistically significant
relationship between the level of knowledge and the compliance of medical waste
management.
It can be concluded that the higher the nurses' knowledge, the better their compliance in
managing medical waste according to standards. Therefore, it is recommended that the
hospital enhance its education and training programs to strengthen