KUMJ | VOL. 24 | NO. 1 | ISSUE 94 | JANUARY - MARCH, 2026

Literacy and Attitudes toward Eco-pharmacology among Medical and Nursing Students: A Quasi-experimental Study
Khadka A, Kaundinnyayana S, Sharma M, Chalise GD, Rayamajhi H, Karki S

Abstract:
Background Medical and nursing students have the potential to protect Nepal’s delicate ecosystems and enhance public health outcomes by making informed decisions about pharmaceutical waste management which demand updating existing curricula and zeal for teaching and learning the principles of eco-pharmacology. Objective To assess the knowledge, perception and attitude of medical and nursing students on eco-pharmacology before and after short educational intervention. Method The quasi-experimental study (quantitative with embedded qualitative elements) was carried out among students of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSc Nursing), Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNS), and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) in a medical college from April 2022 to March 2023 after getting approval from Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 468). The predefined validated questionnaire was administered before and after two weeks of the short educational intervention in the form of lecture with interactive session. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Result This study of 131 students (59 MBBS, 39 BSc Nursing, 33 BNS) demonstrated that educational intervention on eco-pharmacology significantly improved knowledge scores for MBBS (p < 0.0001) and BSc Nursing students (p < 0.0001), while BNS students showed no statistically significant improvement (p = 0.637) despite having good baseline knowledge. Post-intervention, MBBS students reached 100% positive perception, BNS students improved from negative to 57% positive and BSc Nursing students increased to 86%. Conclusion This study shows that even a short educational intervention can have a positive impact on students’ comprehension of drug-related environmental health hazards.
Keyword : Environment, Medical students, Nursing students, Pharmaceutical waste