An Assessment of Knowledge and Attitude of Iranian Nurses Towards Bioterrorism

Abstract

Background: An increase in disasters around the world like bioterrorism attacks emphasizes the need to assess healthcare workers’ preparedness to respond to bioterrorism. Nurses form the majority of first responders in disasters and emergencies, thus it is important to guarantee that their knowledge and skills are adequate to respond to such events. Objectives: This study aimed at assessing the level of nurse’s knowledge and attitude of Sari city of Mazandaran province about bioterrorism, in 2015. Methods: Overall, 240 nurses participated in this cross-sectional study that was conducted at the University of Mazandaran Medical Sciences. The units were selected through the accessible sampling method. Data were collected by a questionnaire in 3 sections, demographic data, knowledge, and attitude, respectively. Results and Conclusions: The results showed that 91.7% of samples had low knowledge about bioterrorism and 93.3% had no opinion in regarding attitude of bioterrorism. Little knowledge of nurses regarding bioterrorism attacks indicates inefficiencies in hospitals units. Therefore, bioterrorism preparedness should be proposed through continuing education for under graduate and post-graduate nursing curriculum.