KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTION OF NURSES TOWARDS THE TRANSMISSION AND PREVENTION OF COVID-19 INFECTION IN A SELECTED TERTIARY HEALTH INSTITUTION IN BENIN-CITY, EDO STATE.

ABSTRACT

Nurses are at the frontline defense against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. A poor understanding of the disease among nurses  may result in delayed treatment and result in the rapid spread of the infection. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge and perceptions of nurses about COVID-19. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) among 260 nurses using a self-administered questionnaire. Findings of this study shows that majority of the respondents have good level of knowledge, less than half have fair level of knowledge while less than one third have poor level of knowledge of the transmission and prevention of coronavirus. Evaluation of perception of the transmission and prevention of coronavirus among respondents showed that all the nurses have positive perception. In this study, it was revealed  that majority of the respondents have good level of practice, less than half have fair level of practice while less than one third have poor level of practice of curbing the transmission of coronavirus. This study assessed the level of knowledge and perception of nurses towards the transmission and prevention of covid-19 in UBTH. The result shows that majority of the respondents have good knowledge and positive perception of Covid 19. The study however also identified that there is no significant difference in the mean knowledge score by cadre of the nurses.

KEYWORDS: knowledge, perception, transmission, prevention, practices