HOSPITAL WASTE MANAGEMENT: NURSING RESPONSIBILITY AND PRACTICE

Abstract

The study analyzes healthcare waste management in hospitals, emphasizing nursing responsibilities and practice in the face of care-related, occupational, and environmental challenges. It is a bibliographic and documentary review with a qualitative and descriptive approach, based on technical-scientific literature and Brazilian regulations applicable to healthcare waste management. The objective is to discuss the participation of nursing teams in waste segregation, packaging, identification, internal collection, and forwarding, as well as to examine the contribution of continuing education and sustainable practices to risk reduction. The analysis indicates that correct segregation at the point of generation is essential to reduce occupational accidents, environmental contamination, treatment costs, and improper disposal. Nursing also occupies a strategic position because professionals remain continuously in care settings and directly participate in procedures that generate infectious, chemical, common, and sharps waste. It is concluded that institutional protocols, continuous training, availability of appropriate containers, indicator monitoring, and multidisciplinary integration strengthen safety and sustainability in hospital waste management.