Análise do conhecimento de discentes, docentes e de servidores do Departamento de Odontologia da UFRN acerca dos resíduos de serviços de saúde

Abstract

Introduction: The generation of waste in health services turns into a considerable problem to be solved, due to its degree of contamination, which endangers the population's health as well as the health of the environment. Objective: To analyze the knowledge of students, professors and workers about waste of health services. Methods: This study involved 12 teachers, 48 students of the Dentistry course (23 from the 5th semester and 25 from 9th semester), besides 4 workers from the cleaning sector of the Department of Dentistry of UFRN. Through semi-structured questionnaires, data were collected on the knowledge of the interviewees about the health services waste generated in this department. Then, the descriptive analysis of the instruments answered was done. Results: When asked about the knowledge over waste legislation and its applications, 91.7% of teachers said they did not know about the legislation on health care waste. This value was 91.3% for the 5th semester students and 80% for 9th semester students. Among teachers, 75% indicated the environment and 66.7% pointed human health as being the biggest ones affected by the impacts caused by health care waste. Regarding cleaning sector workers, 50% cited the environment and 75% the human health. Environment and human health was the responses of 43.4% of students from 5th semester. In relation to the 9th semester students, 52% pointed the environment and 56% the human health. Conclusion: From this study, it is concluded that there is a lack of knowledge of the majority of the interviewees about legislation, which is directly related to the correct handling and disposal of this type of material. In this way, it is emphasized the importance to approach and to deepen the knowledge of the subject in environments of academic formation.