Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Nurses Towards the Prevention and Control of COVID-19

Abstract

Abstract Background: Coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) has been spreading globally, with severe impacts on health and economies. Nursing is an essential component of medical care, and nurses’ knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) about the prevention and control of the disease directly affects patient’s outcomes ,but there is little know about the nurses’ KAP during the COVID-19 epidemic.Methods: An anonymous survey was conducted using customized questionnaires designed by Sojump platform. 1323 nurses in Wuhan were the survey object for the KAP survey. The survey included 48 questions regarding the basic information of nurses and knowledge, attitude, and prevention measures for COVID-19. Results: A total of 1323 nurses in Wuhan were included in the survey, of whom women (95.7%) under 40 years old (94.6%) accounted for the majority. Nurses have a comprehensive knowledge of problems such as the COVID-19 susceptible population, isolation ward layout process, environmental cleaning and disinfection, hand hygiene measures, infectious disease case reporting processes, standard prevention measures, and personal protection level, with more than 60% accuracy. However, they have a general lack of knowledge about the route of transmission of COVID-19, the use of protective equipment, patient management, medical waste disposal, and occupational exposure emergency response, with less than 45% accuracy. There was a gap between the attitude and the practice of nurses (p <0.05). Moreover, the knowledge level of nurses has an impact on their attitude (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.10-2.08, p = 0.008), and title (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.01-2.15, p = 0.042), place of work (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.36-1.85, p <0.001), and attitude (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.52-2.46, p <0.001) had an impact on their practice.Conclusion: The nurses in Wuhan during the epidemic have insufficient knowledge about COVID-19 infection prevention and control, and there are gaps in attitude and practice, which further affect their attitude and practice. It is therefore necessary to strengthen relevant knowledge training on COVID-19 among nurses.