Current status of waste management at home-visit nursing stations and during home visits in Japan

A questionnaire survey was conducted with the aim of examining the problems involved in the disposal of infectious waste at home-visit nursing stations and in its handling during home visits by nurses. From among the home-visit nursing stations registered with the National Association for Home-Visit Nursing Care, 1,965 offices were selected at random and questionnaires were sent to the selected offices. Nurses at 1,314 offices (66.9 %) responded to the survey and responses from 1,283 offices were identified as suitable for analysis after excluding 26 offices that closed and five offices whose main field of care was psychiatry. Offices were classified by management configuration. Offices attached to hospitals were classified as “attached office” and all others were classified as “independent office”. More attached office nurses recovered medical waste from patients’ homes than did independent office nurses. They were also more likely to transport waste with them during the course of a day’s visits. There was a significant difference between attached and independent offices in the burden of expense for waste disposal. Both offices have strong concern about waste treatment containers and handling in improvement in home medical care (HMC) waste disposal. Thus, in order to alleviate these concerns, it is necessary to provide nurses with containers for medical waste suited to home-visit nursing care and tools for preventing injuries. Japanese government should address HMC waste disposal more comprehensively through necessary legislation, subsidization and standardization.