Abstract: 
Background: Biomedical waste is unwanted materials that contains potentially infectious 
elements and produced during medical procedures such as diagnosis, therapy, surgery, 
vaccination, or research. Healthcare waste poses serious dangers to public health and the 
environment, making its management crucial. This study aimed to assess knowledge and 
practices of nursing staff regarding biomedical waste management at rural health units in Tanta 
city. Research design: Descriptive study design was utilized to achieve the aim of this study. 
Setting: This study was conducted at 14 rural health units affiliated to Tanta district. Sample: All 
the available nursing staff working (325) at the previous mentioned settings was included in this 
study. Tool of the study: A structured questionnaire sheet was used including three parts: (1) 
Socio-demographic characteristics of the studied nursing staff, (2) Nurses' knowledge regarding 
biomedical waste and its management (3) Self-reported practices of nursing staff regarding 
biomedical waste management. Results: 43.4% nurses who were studied knew very little about 
biomedical waste management and 60.6% had unsatisfactory reported practice. Conclusion: 
Highly a statistically significant positive association between the study nurses' overall knowledge 
score and their overall reported practice score regarding biomedical waste management (p < 
0.001). Recommendation: It is essential to identify nurses training needs regarding safe waste 
management policies and guidelines through ongoing evaluation of nurses' expertise and 
methods in waste control in health care units.