Importance of patient education on home medical care waste disposal in Japan

• Attached office nurses more recovered medical waste from patients’ homes.
• Most nurses educated their patients on how to store home medical care waste in their homes and on how to separate them.
• Around half of nurses educated their patients on where to dispose of their home medical care waste.

To determine current practices in the disposal and handling of home medical care (HMC) waste, a questionnaire was mailed to 1965 offices nationwide. Of the office that responded, 1283 offices were analyzed. Offices were classified by management configuration: those attached to hospitals were classified as ”attached offices” and others as “independent offices”. More nurses from attached offices recovered medical waste from patients’ homes than those from independent offices. Most nurses educated their patients on how to store HMC waste in their homes (79.3% of total) and on how to separate HMC waste (76.5% of total). On the other hand, only around half of nurses (47.3% from attached offices and 53.2% from independent offices) educated their patients on where to dispose of their HMC waste. 66.0% of offices replied that patients had separated their waste appropriately. The need for patient education has emerged in recent years, with education for nurses under the diverse conditions of HMC being a key factor in patient education.