Perception and factors affecting practice of preventive measures of coronavirus disease among nurses in tertiary health institutions in Anambra state, southeast Nigeria

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 is a contagious disease without any treatment, vaccine, or immunity, which the only way out is the practice of preventive measures. This article assessed the perception and factors influencing the practice of preventive measures to COVID-19 among nurses in Anambra State, Nigeria. The study objectives include to determine the perception of nurses toward COVID-19 and to determine factors that influence the practice of preventive measures to COVID-19 among nurses in tertiary hospitals in Anambra State. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The design for the study was descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted among 344 nurses in the two tertiary institutions. RESULTS: Three hundred and three (88.1%) nurses had no formal training on COVID-19 protocol. They have a good perception of the disease as, among others, they (165 [48.0%]) see it to be highly contagious, 207 (60.2%) can recognize symptoms easily, 168 (48.8%) believed that COVID-19 could be handled professionally based on their experience, 155 (45.1%) responded that there is no vaccine yet for the disease, and 200 (58.1%) responded that patients should not hide their symptoms and travel history to avoid infecting other people. The result on the false benefits has 323 (93.9%) who responded that COVID-19 preventive measures will predispose one to the disease, 319 (92.7%) who responded that the preventive measures will not slow the spread of the disease, 288 (83.7) who responded that it is independent of normalcy returning to areas affected, and 327 (95.1%) who responded that COVID-19 preventive measures are among the effective ways to mitigate the disease and enhance life sustainability. Some work-related/institutional and disease-specific factors influence their practice of preventive measures to COVID-19. Such factors include the time to use personal protective equipment (PPE) in an emergency (170 [49.4%]), remembering to use PPE (158 [45.9%]), insufficient nursing staff during a shift (158 [43.0%]), and too many responsibilities during a shift (178 [51.7%]). CONCLUSION: With the increasing death as a result of COVID-19, of which health workers are not immune to, it is essential to annihilate all negative factors that may impede the accurate practices of the preventive measures and also support the nurses with the necessary tools and knowledge to mitigate their exposure to the disease.