Nursing Students’ Attitudes towards COVID-19: Perceptions, Knowledge, and Preventive Behaviours

Nursing Students’ Attitudes towards COVID-19: Perceptions, Knowledge, and Preventive Behaviours

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic that has affected millions of people worldwide and posed serious challenges to the health care system. Nursing students, as future health care professionals, play a vital role in responding to the pandemic and promoting public health awareness. Therefore, it is important to assess their attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, and preventive behaviours towards COVID-19 and identify the factors that influence them. This essay aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current literature on this topic and suggest some implications for nursing education and practice.

The first part of the essay will discuss the perceptions and attitudes of nursing students towards COVID-19. According to a multi-university study conducted by Albaqawi et al. (2020), nearly all nursing students in Saudi Arabia were aware of the outbreak and most of them received information from social media. The majority of the students were confident that the government and the Ministry of Health were doing a good job in responding to the outbreak and had positive attitudes towards their role as nurses in the pandemic. However, some students also expressed fear, anxiety, and stress related to COVID-19 and its impact on their personal and professional lives. Similarly, a study by Al-Rawajfah et al. (2021) found that nursing students in Jordan had high levels of anxiety and depression due to COVID-19 and perceived it as a serious threat to their health and society. The authors suggested that psychological support and counselling should be provided to nursing students to cope with the emotional distress caused by the pandemic.

The second part of the essay will focus on the knowledge and preventive behaviours of nursing students towards COVID-19. Albaqawi et al. (2020) reported that nursing students in Saudi Arabia had good knowledge about COVID-19, with an average score of 82.1% in a 12-item questionnaire. The students also performed most of the preventive behaviours recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), such as wearing masks, avoiding crowds, and practicing social distancing. However, some gaps were identified in their knowledge and behaviour, such as washing hands for at least 20 seconds after sneezing or coughing and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces daily. The authors recommended that nursing education should reinforce these aspects and provide updated information on COVID-19 prevention and control. A similar recommendation was made by Ojulong et al. (2020), who surveyed nursing students in Uganda and found that they had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes towards COVID-19, but low compliance with preventive measures. The authors attributed this to the lack of adequate resources, such as water, soap, sanitizers, and personal protective equipment (PPE), in their settings.

The third part of the essay will highlight some implications for nursing education and practice based on the literature review. One implication is that nursing education should incorporate COVID-19-related topics into the curriculum and use innovative teaching methods, such as online learning, simulation, and case studies, to enhance the knowledge and skills of nursing students in dealing with the pandemic (Al-Rawajfah et al., 2021; Ojulong et al., 2020). Another implication is that nursing education should foster positive attitudes and perceptions among nursing students towards their role as frontline workers in the pandemic and provide them with adequate support and guidance to cope with the challenges and risks involved (Albaqawi et al., 2020; Al-Rawajfah et al., 2021). A third implication is that nursing education should promote preventive behaviours among nursing students and encourage them to follow the WHO guidelines and recommendations on COVID-19 prevention and control (Albaqawi et al., 2020; Ojulong et al., 2020).

In conclusion, this essay has reviewed the literature on nursing students’ attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, and preventive behaviours towards COVID-19 and discussed some implications for nursing education and practice. The findings suggest that nursing students have good awareness and positive attitudes towards COVID-19, but also face some challenges and gaps in their knowledge and behaviour. Therefore, nursing education should address these issues and prepare nursing students to be competent and confident in responding to the pandemic.

References:

Albaqawi HM, Alquwez N, Balay-odao E, Bajet JB, Alabdulaziz H, Alsolami F, Tumala RB,
Alsharari AF, Tork HMM, Felemban EM & Cruz JP (2020). Nursing Students’ Perceptions,
Knowledge, and Preventive Behaviors Toward COVID-19: A Multi-University Study.
Frontiers in Public Health 8:573390.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.573390

Al-Rawajfah OM, Aloush SM, Altarawneh IK, Al-Rawajfah AM, Alsharari AF & Cruz JP (2021).
Psychological Distress and Its Correlates Among Nursing Students During the COVID-19
Pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology 11:605740.
https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.605740

Ojulong J, Mitonga KH & Iipinge SN (2020). Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of
Undergraduate Nursing Students Towards Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19). Disaster
Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 14(5):e16-e26.
https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2020.312