The perceived effectiveness of MERS-CoV educational programs and knowledge transfer among primary healthcare workers: a cross-sectional survey

Healthcare workers' knowledge and risk perception regarding the first wave of COVID-19 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan: an online cross-sectional survey

Background

Increased COVID-19 transmission among the populace may be caused by healthcare workers (HCWs) who lack knowledge, awareness, and good preventive practices. Additionally, it may cause elevated stress levels, anxiety, poor medical judgement, and situational overestimation.

Objectives

The present survey aimed to assess knowledge and risk perception regarding COVID-19 among HCWs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan.

Methodology

A web-based online, pre-tested questionnaire comprising 26 items was circulated via social media in April 2020 amongst HCWs in major tertiary care facilities in KP.

Results

The study's results, revealing both the commendable knowledge levels among HCWs about COVID-19 and their heightened risk perception, highlight the critical need for targeted interventions to address the potential impact on self-protective behaviour and mental health within this vital workforce. This insight is important for designing strategies that not only enhance HCWs' well-being but also ensure the continued effectiveness of healthcare delivery during pandemics. The percentage mean score (PMS) of COVID-19 knowledge was 85.14±10.82. Male HCWs and those with an age older than or equal to 32 years demonstrated a higher knowledge score (85.62±11.08; P=0.032 and 87.59±7.33, P=0.021, respectively). About 76% of HCWs feared contracting COVID-19. Nearly 82% of respondents were mentally preoccupied with the pandemic and also terrified of it. 'Of these, 81% were nurses, 87% had a job experience of 6-8 years and 54.45% were frontline workers. Feelings of panic and concern about the pandemic were found to be more in HCWs who were physicians above the age of 32, and who had 3-5 years of work experience. HCWs' overall risk perception was found to be significantly different between males (7.04±2.26) and females (8.01±1.97), job experience of 6-10 years (8.04±177) with 3-5 years and younger than or equal to 2 years job experience (7.18±2.43,6.93±2.22), respectively, and between frontline HCWs (7.50±2.10) and non-frontline HCWs (6.84±2.40).

Conclusion

HCWs demonstrated good knowledge about COVID-19. As the risk perception of COVID-19 among HCWs is high, it can raise concerns about their self-protective behaviour, and mental health. These issues need to be addressed.

Professional Accountability of Caring for Patients with COVID-19: A Phenomenographic Study

The purpose of this study was to explore nurses' care experiences for COVID-19 patients during the pandemic in Taiwan. The qualitative approach of phenomenography was used. Thirty-four nurses were recruited from two assigned hospitals in which COVID-19 patients were treated in Taiwan from July to May 2021. The method of data collection in the study involved a semi-structured interview and drawing. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Phenomenographic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. Four categories of description of experiences of caring for COVID-19 patients were identified: facing uncountable stresses from all sides, strict implementation of infection control interventions to provide safe care, confronting ethical dilemmas and making difficult decisions, and reflecting on the meaning of care in nursing. Professional accountability was the core theme found to represent the central meaning of nurses caring for COVID-19 patients. Nurses were under enormous stress while caring for COVID-19 patients during the pandemic and were negatively affected physically, psychologically, and socially. Professional accountability in caring for COVID-19 patients can be enhanced through adequate support from nursing managers and by in-service training designed to update knowledge and skills related to infection control intervention.

Knowledge sharing behaviour among head nurses in online health communities: The moderating role of knowledge self-efficacy

BACKGROUND

Head nurses are vital in understanding and encouraging knowledge sharing among their followers. However, few empirical studies have highlighted their contribution to knowledge-sharing behaviour in Online Health Communities (OHCs). In addition, scant literature has examined the moderating role of knowledge self-efficacy in this regard.

PURPOSES

This study examines the moderating role of self-efficacy between the association of four selected individual factors of head nurses (i.e., Trust, Reciprocity, Reputation, and Ability to Share) and their knowledge-sharing behaviour in OHCs in Jordan.

METHOD

The data were obtained by using a self-reported survey from 283 head nurses in 22 private hospitals in Jordan. A moderation regression analysis using a structural equation modelling approach (i.e. Smart PLS-SEM, Version 3) was utilised to evaluate the study's measurement and structural model.

RESULTS

Knowledge self-efficacy moderates the relationship between the three individual factors (i.e., Trust, Reciprocity, and Reputation) and knowledge-sharing behaviours. However, self-efficacy did not moderate the relationship between the ability to share and knowledge-sharing behaviours.

IMPLICATIONS

This study contributes to understanding the moderating role of knowledge self-efficacy among head nurses in online healthcare communities. Moreover, this study provides guidelines for head nurses to become active members in knowledge sharing in OHCs. The findings of this study offer a basis for further research on knowledge sharing in the healthcare sector.

Lived Experience of Nurses in COVID-19 Units - A Phenomenological Study from Eastern India

Introduction: Nurses are the frontline workers who had to play multiple functions like in acute care, community, etc. but, it was stated that COVID-19 has caused immense trauma to nurses globally. Methods: A descriptive phenomenological study to explore the lived experience of nurses working in COVID-19 units was conducted among nine senior nursing officers recruited by purposive homogenous sampling and interviewed with an open-ended interview guide by ensuring data saturation. COREQ guideline were adopted for this qualitative study. Results: Qualitative data were analysed using Giorgi's framework, and themes and sub-themes were derived. The major themes that emerged in the present study were "Reactions and preparation", "Feelings and satisfaction in active duty", "Role of a helping hand", "Working experience in PPE", and "Pandemic and socialization". Each theme had further sub-themes to classify the verbatims. Conclusion: Most of the nurses had anxiety and prepared themselves to play with fire, had unrealistic hope, and mixed emotions, kept their family away and intentionally concealed information to reduce family's fear, were satisfied with training and preparation, and had unpleasant experiences with PPE, had to restrict their social activities and felt social stigma. It also concludes with the recommendation that warrants the need to improve their professional quality of life and working conditions by safeguarding nurses' physical and mental health.

The role of information communication technologies as a moderator of knowledge creation and knowledge sharing in improving the quality of healthcare services

This study examines the role of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and information communication technologies, which are organizational factors that influence the quality of healthcare services. In today’s knowledge-intensive environment, understanding and gaining in-depth knowledge on how to improve the quality of healthcare services is gaining in importance and recognition. Quantitative data collected in 2019 with 151 respondents employed in healthcare organizations was used. Running a series of hierarchical linear regression models, we found a significant positive relationship between knowledge creation and quality of healthcare services, and a significant positive relationship between knowledge sharing and quality of healthcare services. Empirical data additionally provides support for information communication technologies that act as a moderator both in the relationship between knowledge creation and knowledge sharing with quality of healthcare services. With our data, we provide empirical backing for the impact of knowledge creation, knowledge sharing and information communication technologies on the quality of healthcare services that are provided by Montenegrin healthcare organizations. Our paper offers theoretical and practical implications derived from our research study.

Knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures against COVID-19 among nurses: a questionnaire-based multicenter cross-sectional study

Background

During this pandemic, nurses have always been on the frontline and are probably the first healthcare providers to interact with patients presenting with symptoms of COVID-19. The main aim of this multicenter study was to assess knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures against COVID-19 among nurses across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (oPt) during the ongoing pandemic.

Methods

This was a questionnaire-based multicenter cross-sectional study that was conducted in the period between October 2020 to December 2020. The study tool tested knowledge (8-item), attitude (2-item), and use of protective measures against COVID-19 (3-item) among nurses. Associations between nurses’ characteristics and their knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures were investigated using Student’s t-test, Analysis of Variance, and Pearson’s correlations. To control potentially confounding variables, predictors of higher knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures were identified using multiple regression analyses.

Results

The study tool was complete by 455 nurses. The mean of knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures scores were 75.7% (SD:12.4%), 75.1% (SD: 17.7%), and 91.6% (SD: 18.2%), respectively. Multiple linear regression models showed that high knowledge was predicted by being female (p-value = 0.004) and self-rating social status as high (p-value = 0.005). Higher attitude was predicted by being female (p-value = 0.005), self-rating academic achievements as high (p-value = 0.007), and having contracted COVID-19 (p-value = 0.001). Higher use of protective measures was predicted by self-rating academic achievements as high (p-value = 0.010).

Conclusion

Findings of this study suggested that nurses in the oPt had high knowledge, relatively optimistic attitude, and appropriately used protective measures against COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic. Knowledge, attitude, and use of protective measures among nurses should continuously be updated as information unfold during the ongoing pandemic. More efforts are still needed to ensure protection of healthcare providers including nurses from contracting COVID-19.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-021-00689-x.

COVID-19 Fear Level of Surgical Nurses Working in Pandemic and Surgical Units

Purpose

Nurses who care for COVID-19 patients are more likely to be affected psychologically than nurses who do not, and reactions such as increased fear may lead to psychological problems among nurses. The aim of this study was to determine the COVID-19 fear level of surgical nurses by using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale.

Design

A descriptive and cross-sectional study.

Methods

Totally, 202 surgical nurses who take care of suspected or infected COVID-19 patients working in pandemic and surgical units of a university hospital were included in the study. For data collection, “Nurse Characteristics Form” and “Fear of COVID-19 Scale” were used. Study data was analyzed with the descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman Correlation test.

Findings

The mean total COVID-19 fear score of the nurses was 25.09 ± 7.29 (min: 7, max: 35) and nurses who received training related to COVID-19 had statistically lower fear than those who did not (U = 3773.500; P= .027). Losing a patient because of COVID-19, being older and experienced in nursing significantly affected the total fear score of nurses (respectively, U = 3899.000; P= .004; r_s = 0.152; P = .031, r_s = 0.205; P = .003).

Conclusions

Surgical nurses have a moderate level of COVID-19 fear and it is recommended to conduct appropriate on-line training programs to develop psychological support strategies.

One Year of Pandemic Learning Response: Benefits of Massive Online Delivery of the World Health Organization's Technical Guidance

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched the first web-based learning course on COVID-19 on January 26, 2020, four days before the director general of the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern. The WHO is expanding access to web-based learning for COVID-19 through its open-learning platform for health emergencies, OpenWHO. Throughout the pandemic, OpenWHO has continued to publish learning offerings based on the WHO’s emerging evidence-based knowledge for managing the COVID-19 pandemic. This study presents the various findings derived from the analysis of the performance of the OpenWHO platform during the pandemic, along with the core benefits of massive web-based learning formats.

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward COVID-19 in China: An Online Cross-Sectional Survey

To analyze the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice about COVID-19 among Chinese residents, noninterventional and anonymous survey was carried out with an online questionnaire. Among the survey respondents (n = 619), 59.9% were female, 61.1% were from 18 to 30 years of age, and 42.3% held an undergraduate's degree. The mean scores for each scale were as follows: perceived knowledge (36.3 ± 6.1), attitude (29.4 ± 4.7), practice (44.1 ± 4.8), total score (109.7 ± 13.2), barrier (0.2 ± 0.7), and cognition and behavior change score (8.5 ± 1.4). Perceived knowledge, attitude, practice, total score, and cognition and behavior changes were significantly and positively correlated, whereas barrier was negatively correlated with those scales (P < 0.001). Linear regressions revealed that those respondents who were medical professionals, civil servants, employees of state-owned enterprises and public institutions, and had relatively higher level of education were associated with a higher perceived knowledge score, attitude score, practice score, and total score. Higher mean cognition and behavior change score was associated with company employees (8.8 ± 1.3). More than half of the respondents (51.4%) were optimistic about the government's interventional measures. The respondents in China had good knowledge, positive attitude, and active practice toward COVID-19, yet, it is advisable to strengthen nationwide publicity and focus on the target undereducated population by means of We-Chat, microblog, website, and community workers for better control effect.

Nursing Students' Perceptions, Knowledge, and Preventive Behaviors Toward COVID-19: A Multi-University Study

Background: Knowledge, perception, and preventive behavior should be considered in the planning of effective educational interventions for the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and in increasing awareness about the health risks brought about by this disease. This research aimed to assess knowledge, perceptions, and preventive behavior toward the COVID-19 infection among student nurses.

Methods: The study has quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 1,226 student nurses from seven universities in Saudi Arabia was surveyed from March 22 to April 4, 2020. A four-part online survey on demographic characteristics, perceptions, knowledge, and preventive behavior of Saudi student nurses was carried out.

Results: Nearly all students were aware of the outbreak (99.2%), and most of them received information on COVID-19 primarily from social media (71.0%). Over three-fourths of the students were confident that the government (89.1%) and Ministry of Health (MOH) (86.5%) were doing a good job responding to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The overall average score in the knowledge questionnaire was 9.85 (SD = 1.62, range = 0–12), which is equivalent to 82.1%. The majority of the students always performed most of the preventive behavior identified in the survey, except “washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 s after blowing my nose, coughing, or sneezing” (39.2%) and “daily cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces” (41.6%). Being female, being in the fourth year, and gaining good perceived knowledge were associated with high actual COVID-19 knowledge. University, gender, age, academic level, and perceived COVID-19 knowledge were the associated factors.

Conclusions: The findings of this study have provided baseline information on the current state of Saudi nursing students' perceptions, knowledge, and preventive behavior toward COVID-19 as the crisis is happening. The findings revealed some areas that should be focused on by nursing education, as well as health agencies, to ensure that the students have adequate knowledge and correct preventive behavior.

Awareness, Attitudes, Prevention, and Perceptions of COVID-19 Outbreak among Nurses in Saudi Arabia

The newly discovered coronavirus (COVID-19) has become a pandemic, infecting thousands of people around the world. This study examines nurses' demographic information (age, gender, marital status, area of practice, total years of experience in the current hospital, work region, monthly salary, educational level, workplace, nationality, working hours per day, total nursing experience, and the respondents' main source of information on COVID-19), awareness, attitudes, prevention, and perceptions of COVID-19 during the outbreak in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional descriptive design of 500 nurses working at government and non-governmental hospitals in five regions in Saudi Arabia were selected using convenience sampling. The Kruskal-Wallis test was applied and the Mann-Whitney test was utilized as a post hoc test. The majority of nurses in this study, 96.85%, had excellent knowledge of COVID-19. Some (83.2%) of nurses reported significant prevention knowledge and treatment skills about COVID-19, while 7.6% had little knowledge about prevention. More than half of the nurses (60.4%) had high positive attitudes toward caring for COVID-19 patients. In conclusion, female nurses, married nurses, and bachelor's degree nurses had greater awareness, better attitude, and prevention clinical experience towards COVID-19. Meanwhile, non-Saudi nurses had higher self-reported awareness, positive attitudes, optimal prevention, and positive perceptions compared to Saudi nurses. This study provides baseline information immediately needed to enable health authorities to prioritize training programs that support nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Citywide preparedness for a pandemic: A crosssectional survey of knowledge, attitudes, and practices about respiratory infection prevention in Bogotá, Colombia

Introduction: Healthcare personnel plays an important role in the prevention of acute respiratory infections in hospital settings.Objective: Our aim was to establish the level of knowledge about respiratory virus infections and the attitudes and practices among healthcare workers, leaders of infection control committees in hospitals of Bogotá, Colombia.Materials and methods: We used a self-administered questionnaire of 28 items during the monthly meeting sponsored by the local health authority. “Yes or no” and “true or false” questions were applied to measure knowledge. Attitudes and practices were measured with a Likert-type scale according to the agreement degree.Results: We surveyed 70 healthcare workers. Respondents demonstrated a good level of knowledge as 80% of them answered correctly more than five questions. A total of 54.4% showed a low degree of agreement when asked if their institutions have the policy to stay home when they are sick with respiratory symptoms and 67.1% never or rarely remain at home under such conditions.Conclusion: Healthcare worker leaders of infection control committees in Bogotá’s ospitals have adequate knowledge about the prevention of seasonal respiratory viruses. There is a need for implementing urgent sick leave policies as a measure to prevent the spread of potential coronavirus infections in hospitals.

Dentists' knowledge, attitudes, and professional behavior toward the COVID-19 pandemic: A multisite survey of dentists' perspectives

Background

COVID-19 continues to affect the dental community worldwide. The authors conducted a cross-sectional electronic study using a multisite survey to examine dentists’ knowledge, attitudes, and professional behavior toward COVID-19 and the affect on their livelihood.

Methods

A questionnaire was circulated via e-mail and social media platforms to dentists in North America, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Western Pacific regions. It covered demographic characteristics and questions about the COVID-19 outbreak related to dentists’ levels of comfort for preventive and safety measures, provision of treatment, affect on work, and financial implications. Responses were tabulated and analyzed by means of χ² or Fisher exact test. Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare means. P < .05 was considered significant.

Results

A total of 1,251 dentists responded. General dentists represented 63.9% of the respondents and 62.5% worked in private practice. The global score for level of comfort with the preventive measures and provisions of treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic was low (14 of 30), and differences between regions were significant (P < .01); dentists working in private practice and general dental practitioners were less comfortable (P < .01).

Conclusions and Practical Implications

The respondents reported a lack of preparedness to confront a highly infectious respiratory disease. A new level of protective armamentarium in the dental operatory and updated operational guidance and policies are required, necessitating educators and regulators to ensure the delivery of knowledge and skills to oral health care providers. Dentists need to address the sustainability of their practices and have a robust business plan.

Knowledge and practice of physicians during COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Lebanon

Background

As the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to evolve, physicians must be equipped with adequate knowledge, skills on the prevention measures, and confidence in diagnosing and treating COVID-19 patients. Therefore, it is of great interest to assess the knowledge and practices of Physicians to identify existing gaps and improve occupational safety and viral surveillance.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lebanon between 28th March and 11th April 2020. Data was collected through an online survey that included information on socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, practice, physicians fear towards COVID-19 as well as their perceptions regarding actions/policies implemented by the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) and their health care facilities. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were carried out to identify the factors associated with good knowledge of COVID-19 and good practice toward its prevention. Adjusted odds ratio and their 95% confidence intervals were reported.

Results

Our survey revealed that the majority of Lebanese physicians had good knowledge about the disease (89.5%) while approximately half of the respondents adopted good preventive practices (49.7%). The odds of having good knowledge was 2.16 times higher among physicians aged 40 and above (adjusted OR = 2.16 with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.08 to 4.34) compared to their counterparts aged less than 40 years old. Our results also showed that the odds of good practice was 2 times higher among frontline compared to the second line workers (adjusted OR = 2.01 with 95% CI of 1.21 to 3.34). Physicians with an experience of 10 years and above were 3.35 times more likely to have good practice compared to their counterparts (adjusted OR = 3.35 with 95% CI of 1.60 to 7.02). Finally, participants with good knowledge of COVID-19 were 2.04 times more likely to have a good practice (OR = 2.04 with 95% CI of 1.01 to 4.12).

Conclusion

Lebanese physicians revealed a good level of knowledge; however, they had limited comprehension of the precautionary measures that protect them from this virus. Our findings have important implications for the development of strategies suitable for improving the level of practice among physicians and enhance prevention programs.

Public health education for parents during the outbreak of COVID-19: a rapid review

Background

It is well-known that public health education plays a crucial role in the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases, but how health providers should advise families and parents to obtain health education information is a challenging question. With coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreading around the world, this rapid review aims to answer that question and thus to promote evidence-based decision making in health education policy and practice.

Methods

We systematically searched the literature on health education during COVID-19, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and middle east respiratory syndrome (MERS) epidemics in Medline (via PubMed), Cochrane Library, EMBASE, Web of Science, China Biology Medicine disc (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang Data from their inception until March 31, 2020. The potential bias of the studies was assessed by Joanna Briggs Institute Prevalence Critical Appraisal Tool.

Results

Of 1,067 papers found, 24 cross-sectional studies with a total of 35,967 participants were included in this review. The general public lacked good knowledge of SARS and MERS at the early stage of epidemics. Some people’s knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of COVID-19 had been improved, but the health behaviors of some special groups including children and their parents need to be strengthened. Negative emotions including fear and stigmatization occurred during the outbreaks. Reliable health information was needed to improve public awareness and mental health for infectious diseases. Health information from nonprofit, government and academic websites was more accurate than privately owned commercial websites and media websites.

Conclusions

For educating and cultivating children, parents should obtain information from the official websites of authorities such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and national Centers for Disease Control, or from other sources endorsed by these authorities, rather than from a general search of the internet or social media.

MERS-CoV as an emerging respiratory illness: A review of prevention methods

INTRODUCTION

Middle East Respiratory Coronavirus Virus (MERS-CoV) first emerged from Saudi Arabia in 2012 and has since been recognized as a significant human respiratory pathogen on a global level.

METHODS

In this narrative review, we focus on the prevention of MERS-CoV. We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, Scopus, and Google Scholar, using the following terms: 'MERS', 'MERS-CoV', 'Middle East respiratory syndrome' in combination with 'prevention' or 'infection control'. We also reviewed the references of each article to further include other studies or reports not identified by the search.

RESULTS

As of Nov 2019, a total of 2468 laboratory-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV were diagnosed mostly from Middle Eastern regions with a mortality rate of at least 35%. A major outbreak that occurred outside the Middle East (in South Korea) and infections reported from 27 countries. MERS-CoV has gained recognition as a pathogen of global significance. Prevention of MERS-CoV infection is a global public health priority. Healthcare facility transmission and by extension community transmission, the main amplifier of persistent outbreaks, can be prevented through early identification and isolation of infected humans. While MERS-CoV vaccine studies were initially hindered by multiple challenges, recent vaccine development for MERS-CoV is showing promise.

CONCLUSIONS

The main factors leading to sustainability of MERS-CoV infection in high risk courtiers is healthcare facility transmission. MERS-CoV transmission in healthcare facility mainly results from laps in infection control measures and late isolation of suspected cases. Preventive measures for MERS-CoV include disease control in camels, prevention of camel to human transmission.