Influence of social responsibility and pandemic awareness of nursing students on COVID-19 preventive behaviours: a cross-sectional online survey in South Korea

OBJECTIVES: Factors influencing COVID-19 preventive behaviour require exploration to strengthen the response competencies of prehealthcare professionals and reduce the pandemic’s impact. This study aimed to identify the level of COVID-19 preventive behaviour among Korean nursing students and to determine the influence of social responsibility and pandemic awareness to present educational strategies for reducing disaster impact. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: As a cross-sectional descriptive survey study using an online questionnaire, the participants were convenience sampled from one online community for nursing students and three nursing colleges located in Seoul, South Korea. The data from 590 participants were analysed by t-test, analysis of variance, Pearson’s correlation and linear multiple regression using SPSS. RESULTS: The factors influencing COVID-19 preventive behaviour were identified to be social responsibility (linear regression coefficient 0.354, 95% CI 0.243 to 0.464), pandemic awareness (linear regression coefficient 0.131, 95% CI 0.025 to 0.237), impact of COVID-19 on daily life (linear regression coefficient 0.085, 95% CI 0.019 to 0.152) and living in Daegu/Gyeong-buk area (linear regression coefficient 0.134, 95% CI 0.024 to 0.244). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings that social responsibility and pandemic awareness are key predictors of COVID-19 preventive behaviour, customised educational programmes and additional studies are recommended for raising social responsibility and pandemic awareness among prehealthcare professionals as a part of disaster response.