Preparedness Among Senior JKUAT Nursing Students in Managing COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

The negative effects and the impact of pandemic diseases continues to grow enormously. The study aimed to find out the preparedness among senior JKUAT nursing students in managing COVID-19 patients. The purpose of the study was to determine knowledge, attitude and risk perception among senior nursing students at JKUAT in the management of COVID-19 patients. The study used a cross-sectional study design and sampling technique was used to collect data among number of students using online questionnaires. Data analysis was done using the statistical package for the social sciences version 20 and presented using frequency tables, pie charts, numerical and narratives as appropriate. Out of the total participants, 74.6% of the students were willing to volunteer in a pandemic management center and 98.6% had the knowledge on how infectious diseases are transmitted, frequent ways of transmission and prevention/minimizing the spread of infection. Nursing students are valuable resources in the health sectors and are highly willing to volunteer during the COVID-19 pandemic and are prepared to manage the affected patients. The study recommends that emergency preparedness should be integrated into the nursing curricula and other health science programs and also recommends the ministry of health to provide incentives to the volunteers as well as insurance cover in case one is infected in the line of duty.