INTRODUCTION:

It is wiser to FIND OUT than to suppose and as we connect the distance between an idea and its
realization, Research comes into play. Speaking for today’s affair is none other than Andrei T.
Angoluan, your research presenter.

After a tough, rigid yet fruitful brainstorming with my co-researchers, I have the honor and pride to
present to you our research entitled “KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICES ABOUT MEDICAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT AMONG HEALTHCARE PERSONNEL IN COMMUNITY QUARANTINE
FACILITIES OF ISABELA”.

Background of the Study

▰ Medical Waste Management

To kickstart, our study focuses on medical waste management which According to FC et al. in 2018,
inadequate medical waste management has been connected to an increase in outbreaks and waste-
related diseases in previous years. Based on this analysis, the researcher contends that issues in
managing medical waste in underdeveloped countries are caused by a lack of financial investment,
organizational knowledge, experienced staff, and suitable technology. And in the study of Hossain
and Som (2018), a significant number of worldwide and national studies have identified very partial
good practices for the disposal of health care waste.

In addition,

The majority of the research was done in a tertiary level hospital, and quarantine facilities are
one of the most overlooked aspects in waste management, especially now that a pandemic
has hit our country.

Research Questions

Having mention all of the background of the study, we formulated our own research question, to
finally ascertain our question. Thus, in order to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practices
of the healthcare personnel in the community quarantine facilities of Isabela, we, the researchers
formulated our research questions that may greatly answer what we try to decipher.

Question 1: 1. What is the demographic profile of the Healthcare Personnel, through the use of
frequency and percentage, in the community quarantine in terms of:

We try to gage first, the demographic profile of the Healthcare Personnel through the use of
frequency and percentage, in the community quarantine in terms of:

- Age

- Gender

- Educational status

- Profession (licensed professional or Non-professional)

- And years of services.

 Question 2: What is the level of knowledge of healthcare personnel in terms of medical waste
management?

We also dared to seek the level of knowledge in terms of medical waste management. Such as
if they receive proper trainings and certifications or if they do not undergo any trainings at all.

Question 3: What is the level of attitude of healthcare personnel in terms of medical waste
management?

We also need to look into the health care personnel’s level of attitude towards medical waste
management.

Question 4: What is the level of practices of healthcare personnel in terms of medical waste
management?

And lastly, the level of practices

Question 5: However, the last thing that we are going to do is to assess the significance of
knowledge, attitude and practices to each other. If there is a significant difference of KAP
towards medical waste management if they are classified by profile variables.

Hypothesis

Now we researchers try to hypothesize that there is no significant difference in

respondents’ knowledge, attitudes and practices on medical waste management when they are
classified by profile variables.

As you can see the hypothesis being formulated is a null hypothesis, then that is something that is
need to remember when you craft your hypothesis because if you are going to put up a positive
hypothesis, what happens is that there is no point of why you are researching because you already
know the answer. So, in order for your hypothesis to be justified, you need to put up a null hypothesis.

Significance of the Study

Now, future question like why is our study significant. For us, researchers, we deemed that, for the
healthcare personnel; it is very important because this study will assess the levels of knowledge,
attitudes, and practices of health care employees about medical waste management, which may be
useful for increasing awareness of diseases that may occur as a result of improper waste disposal for
patients and health care personnel.

The study's findings of our research might also strengthen the waste management system in
community quarantine facilities, which improves the safety of the patients and healthcare personnel
as well.

This study will also help the Department of Health in coming up with training design and program for
reeducation and specifying which part of healthcare management they should strengthen in order to
address the gaps in this study.
And lastly, this study will help the Healthcare System in realizing that training and seminars about
medical waste management is necessary to improve the knowledge, attitude and practices of the
healthcare personnel.

Methods

Research Design

Our study will utilize a quantitative descriptive survey because this design is appropriate to assess the
Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice about Medical waste management, during the pandemic period in
the community quarantine facility of Isabela. Quantitative research is more preferred over qualitative
research in our study because it is more scientific, objective, fast, focused and acceptable. Since its
data sample can be quantified using fixed numerical parameters, quantitative observation yields more
accurate results than qualitative observation and it is suitable for statistical investigations. We will be
also utilizing the descriptive method, because this method of research can be used to measure
changes in variables over a period of time, allowing trends to be identified and analyzed.

Data on the frequency of healthcare personnel will be used to assess the medical waste
management’s Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice. With the help of this research design, we will be
able to dive deeper into understanding a person ‘s viewpoint regarding our study which could help us
reap better results.

Locale of the Study

According to public health experts, the essential aim is to prevent the spread of the
coronavirus so that the number of patients requiring medical treatment does not overload hospitals.
Governments use quarantines to prevent the spread of infectious illnesses. As a result, this study will
be carried out in Community quarantine facilities of one of the cities of Isabela Province. We chose this
certain city of Isabela, for our research since it has four mega community quarantine facilities which
are Ilagan City Hotel and convention center, Ilagan Community center, Mini-village quarantine facility
within the premises of the newly opened city of Ilagan medical center and in Ilagan sanctuary.

Respondents of the Study

Then for the respondents of our study, are the healthcare personnel particularly the professionals and non-
professionals working in the community quarantine facilities Isabela Province. The population of the healthcare
personnel is 296 therefore, the sample size is 46. We, researchers, want to be 95% precise with the study
thus, the margin of error is 5%. We will use a stratified random sampling for us to obtain a sample
population that best represents the entire population.

Instrumentation

For the instrumentation, we will utilize a questionnaire developed by Govender, R. D., Olaifa, A., and Ross, A.
J. to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professional employees about medical
waste management. (2018). In addition, based on the study of Makhura, R. R., Matlala, S. F., and Kekana, M.
P., a questionnaire will be used to examine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of non-professional
healthcare workers toward Medical Waste Management (2016). For the non-professional workers to fully
understand the questions, the researchers will ask the non-professional workers first if they want to answer the
question in an English or Tagalog version. Not to discriminate against them, but due to the fact that some non-
professional workers cannot understand English, and not all of them graduated in high school, college, or even
elementary. Therefore, we, researchers, decided to translate the English questions into Tagalog to acquire
accurate answers.

Data Gathering Procedure

We as a researcher will begin by obtaining permission to conduct a survey on chosen

quarantine facilities to analyze healthcare personnel's knowledge, attitudes, and practices
surrounding medical waste management. Following the issuance of a letter of approval, we,
researcher will submit the questionnaires to the healthcare workers, who will act as respondents,
through Google form/sheet. The respondents were informed about the distribution of questionnaires
to selected healthcare workers at Quarantine Facilities, the study's aim, and the criteria for
responding to the questionnaire. After the questions were completed, retrieval and collation took
place. We, researchers, will tallied all of the respondents' replies after collecting all of the
questionnaires, and the assembled data was forwarded to the statistician for processing. The
researchers obtained permission for this study from the proper authorities at the community
quarantine facilities of the City of Ilagan, Isabela, where it would be carried out. To complete the data
arrangement, the researchers plan to conduct a data review.

Data Analysis

For the profile variables of the respondents we used frequency/ percentage for the choices of
answers. As you can see on flash screen, for the section A we can see demographic profile,

We, researchers come up with the scoring of questionnaires for knowledge, attitudes
and practices through the use of Likert scale. Such as

- 1- I don’t know

- 2- strongly disagree

- 3-disagree

- 4- agree

- And 5- strongly agree

We utilize a Likert scale to allow respondents to select the options that best reflect their point of view.
This can also assist us researchers to limit the responses of our respondents by allowing them to
remain impartial rather than being forced to express their ideas.

Section B for knowledge

Section C for attitude

Section D for practices:

For measuring the levels of Knowledge, Attitudes and practices we utilize weighted mean or simply
mean that will be computed using a one-way analysis of variance or one-way ANOVA as a statistical
test. This test is best suited in our study since it is a parametric test that uses three or more data
groups in order for us, researchers to gain information about the knowledge, attitude and practices of
medical waste management among the healthcare personnel.

Ethical Considerations

It is very important for a study to have ethical considerations, so first

We will provide formal permission to the respondents and the authoritative people in the quarantine
facility with a letter signed by our research adviser. We will maintain confidentiality in order for
responders to feel confident that their information and opinions will not be disclosed. The
respondents' names will not be mentioned or included in the questionnaire; instead, they will remain
anonymous. We will obtain the approval of the chosen respondents to guarantee that their
participation is voluntary rather than coerced. This consent will be kept in a safe place and subjected
to an ethics assessment. Finally, the sources are referenced using the APA 6th edition format. We're
also utilizing the anti-plagiarism’s policy of the University of Saint Louis Tuguegarao.

Realization:

We are planning at the moment to float questionnaires and proceed to the next chapter of our
research proposal but, sure,

My dear colleagues in the medical field, for sure, I am not the only one who experienced sleepless nights
thinking how things need to get started. And as I keep on thinking, I ended up overthinking until I thought of
nothing.
Well what I realize is that, to not be afraid and take the first step. I know that taking the first step is always the
hardest but I assure you it will all be worth it in the end. because when you believe you can you are halfway
done. Researches often times search for empirical data but this time as you take the first step make sure to
search and unfold the researcher within you.