Knowledge and perception regarding coronavirus disease-19 among the nurses in Kebbi State North-west Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The world is presently faced with a coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic which has overwhelmed countries health systems and has had an enormous toll on human lives. Health-care workers of all levels are primarily involved in taking care of patients with COVID-19, and this has posed serious occupational health risk to this important workforce. Aim: The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge and perception regarding COVID-19 among the nurses in Kebbi State. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital-based, descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted among the nurses working in the only tertiary hospital in Kebbi State using self-administered questionnaires. Information obtained from the participants includes sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, and perception on COVID-19. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 21. Results: Of the 170 nurses that were given the questionnaires, 161 returned it. There were 61 (37.9%) males. The mean age of the participants was 36.1 years (standard deviation = 9.3), and the age range was between 20 years and 57 years. Majority of the respondents were in the age group of 31-“40 years (41.6%), married 128 (79.5%), Hausa 84 (55.2%), Muslim 103 (64%), registered nurse/registered Midwives 111 (88.9%), and 97 (60.2%) have been practicing nursing profession between 1 year and 10 years. Slightly more than half (51.6%) of the respondents have poor knowledge of COVID. While majority 98% have the high level of perception on COVID-19. Conclusion: Nurses in our hospital have poor knowledge of COVID-19 but good perception of the disease. Internet/social media remains the sources of information on the disease. The importance of creating more awareness of the disease among the health workers is underscored.

Keywords

• coronavirus disease-19
• kebbi state
• knowledge
• nurses
• perception