Improving Staff Knowledge of Perioperative Regulated-Waste Management

The mismanagement of regulated waste is a costly issue for many health care facilities. Our facility undertook a quality improvement project to determine whether increasing staff members' knowledge of regulated-waste management would reduce its mismanagement in the surgical setting. I designed a mandatory online learning module for all perioperative staff members and obtained consent from participants to use their test scores. I also designed pre- and posteducation audits to identify the total mass of regulated waste produced in the department and to categorize which items were nonregulated according to facility standards. Personnel achieved a 41% reduction in the total mass of regulated waste sampled and a 77% reduction in nonregulated item mass. The results of the audits determined that perioperative staff members are more likely to improve compliance with the disposal of regulated waste after increasing their knowledge base.