According to the United Nations Environment Programme, in 2020, COVID-associated healthcare waste alone was 3.4 kg per person per day globally. It was about 2.5 kg per bed per day in developing countries. In this seminar, Dr. Laura Jean Ridge discusses her research on the occupational health of healthcare workers in West Africa, particularly in Liberia and Ghana. Dr. Ridge is an Assistant Professor at the University of Cincinnati's College of Nursing. She has received funding from the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety and was a member of the 2023 cohort of the Environmental Health Research Institute for Nurse and Clinician Scientists™. Dr. Ridge is a nurse practitioner who earned her Master's in Adult Primary Care from Columbia University (2010). She provided primary and HIV-oriented care in New York City for five years before her PhD at New York University.
Learning Objectives:
Describe medical waste’s impact on environmental health.
Summarize goals for mitigating medical waste’s impact in low-income countries.
Consider future research objectives to achieve these goals.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 17198, for 1 contact hour.
