EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE

Yusuf Esen; Dilara Öztürk; Ayşe Özgüven

EN TR

EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE

Abstract

This study used a survey-based approach to evaluate personnel's awareness, attitudes, and understanding of medical waste management and practices at 112 Emergency Health Services (EHS) stations in Van province. The population consisted of 446 healthcare professionals working at 48 EHS stations in Van province, and the sample comprised 302 healthcare professionals who voluntarily participated in the survey. A demographic information form and a 5-point Likert-type Medical Waste Attitudes and Behaviors Scale were used to evaluate the awareness, behavioral, cognitive, and attention dimensions of healthcare workers. The scale demonstrated high internal consistency. The awareness dimension's internal consistency coefficient was 0.97, the cognitive sub-dimension's was 0.85, the behavioral sub-dimension's was 0.88, the attention sub-dimension's was 0.80, and the scale's overall internal consistency coefficient was 0.97. The results show that healthcare professionals have a high level of awareness regarding medical waste. However, it was determined that improvements were needed in the behavioral and attention dimensions. The internal audits should be conducted regularly, and in-service training programs should be implemented for all healthcare professionals, not just those responsible for medical waste collection.

Keywords

112 ACİL SAĞLIK HİZMETLERİ İSTASYONU ÇALIŞANLARININ TIBBİ ATIK YÖNETİMİNE YÖNELİK FARKINDALIK, TUTUM, DAVRANIŞ VE DİKKAT DÜZEYLERİNİN DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ: VAN İLİ ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Van ilindeki 112 Acil Sağlık Hizmetleri (ASH) istasyonunda personelin tıbbi atık yönetimi ve uygulamalarına ilişkin farkındalığını, tutumlarını ve anlayışını değerlendirmek için anket tabanlı bir yaklaşım kullanmıştır. Popülasyon, Van ilindeki 48 ASH istasyonunda çalışan 446 sağlık çalışanından oluşurken, örneklem ise ankete gönüllü olarak katılan 302 sağlık çalışanından oluşmuştur. Sağlık çalışanlarının farkındalık, davranışsal, bilişsel ve dikkat boyutlarını değerlendirmek için demografik bilgi formu ve 5 puanlık Likert tipi Tıbbi Atık Tutum ve Davranış Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Ölçek yüksek düzeyde iç tutarlılık göstermiştir. Farkındalık boyutunun iç tutarlılık katsayısı 0,97, bilişsel alt boyutun 0,85, davranışsal alt boyutun 0,88, dikkat alt boyutunun 0,80 ve ölçeğin genel iç tutarlılık katsayısı 0,97 olarak bulunmuştur. Sonuçlar, sağlık çalışanlarının tıbbi atık konusunda yüksek düzeyde farkındalığa sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Bununla birlikte, davranışsal ve dikkat boyutlarında iyileştirmelere ihtiyaç duyulduğu belirlenmiştir. Düzenli olarak iç denetimler yapılmalı ve sadece tıbbi atık toplama sorumluluğu olanlar değil, tüm sağlık çalışanları için hizmet içi eğitim programları uygulanmalıdır.

Keywords

Ethical Statement

In this study, we undertake that all the rules required to be followed within the scope of the "Higher Education Institutions Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Directive" are complied with, and that none of the actions stated under the heading "Actions Against Scientific Research and Publication Ethics" are not carried out. To conduct the research, the necessary approval (Decision No: 30.12.2024-27291) was received from the Van Yuzuncu Yil University Science and Engineering Sciences Publication Ethics Board. An institutional permit (dated February 14, 2025, and numbered E-50817530-771-268326296) was obtained from the Van Provincial Health Directorate, where the research was conducted.

Thanks

This study is based on a thesis prepared by Yusuf Esen (Thesis ID: 962218), supervised by Dilara Öztürk, and co-supervised by Ayşe Özgüven. We thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zekiye Özkan for her help with the statistical analysis. We also appreciate the staff of the Van Provincial Health Directorate in Türkiye for their support

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Environmental Pollution and Prevention

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Yusuf Esen
0009-0002-8508-855X
Türkiye

Dilara Öztürk ^*
0000-0003-2689-560X
Türkiye

Ayşe Özgüven
0000-0003-1071-2813
Türkiye

Publication Date

June 3, 2026

Submission Date

February 2, 2026

Acceptance Date

February 22, 2026

Published in Issue

Year 2026 Volume: 29 Number: 2

IZ

https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT

Cite

RIS / Bibtex

APA

Esen, Y., Öztürk, D., & Özgüven, A. (2026). EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, 29(2), 975-991. https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT

AMA

1.Esen Y, Öztürk D, Özgüven A. EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE. KSU J. Eng. Sci. 2026;29(2):975-991. https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT

Chicago

Esen, Yusuf, Dilara Öztürk, and Ayşe Özgüven. 2026. “EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE”. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi 29 (2): 975-91. https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT.

EndNote

Esen Y, Öztürk D, Özgüven A (June 1, 2026) EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi 29 2 975–991.

IEEE

[1]Y. Esen, D. Öztürk, and A. Özgüven, “EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE”, KSU J. Eng. Sci., vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 975–991, June 2026, [Online]. Available: https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT

ISNAD

Esen, Yusuf - Öztürk, Dilara - Özgüven, Ayşe. “EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE”. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi 29/2 (June 1, 2026): 975-991. https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT.

JAMA

1.Esen Y, Öztürk D, Özgüven A. EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE. KSU J. Eng. Sci. 2026;29:975–991.

MLA

Esen, Yusuf, et al. “EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE”. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Mühendislik Bilimleri Dergisi, vol. 29, no. 2, June 2026, pp. 975-91, https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT.

Vancouver

1.Yusuf Esen, Dilara Öztürk, Ayşe Özgüven. EVALUATION OF THE AWARENESS, ATTITUDES, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTENTION LEVELS OF 112 EMERGENCY HEALTH SERVICES STATION EMPLOYEES TOWARDS MEDICAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF VAN PROVINCE. KSU J. Eng. Sci. [Internet]. 2026 Jun. 1;29(2):975-91. Available from: https://izlik.org/JA88UC38RT