Aim : The purpose of this descriptive-type study is to investigate the medical waste manangement at one of the largest university hospitals in Turkey. It is stated that when medical waste management is carried out in an effective and determined manner, it would provide great gains for the hospital economy and environmental health.
Methods: The study was carried out between January- June 2006 in a total of 51 units. The research data was collected by examining the "Hospital Waste Management Program" and by making faceto-face talks with the nurses, the personnel in the Environmental Health Service Unit, the officials and personnel of the janitorial company and by making the necessary observations.
Results: It was determined that the medical waste practices at the hospital where the study was conducted were in conformance with 70.65% of the 2005 Regulations of the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry, 47.7% of the standards of the Turkish Institute of Standards and 89.0% of the guidelines of the Center for Disease Control.
Conclusion: The following is proposed: To hold short-term meetings for informing the personnel on the regulation of medical wastes in order to eliminate the deficiencies in the medical waste practices.
