Nurses' knowledge, concerns, perceived impact and preparedness toward COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional survey

El-Monshed, Ahmed Hashem; Amr, Mostafa; Ali, Ahmed Salah; Elmasry, Yosr Mohamed; Zoromba, Mohamed

AIM: This study aimed to assess the nurses' knowledge, concerns, perceived impact and preparedness toward the COVID-19 pandemic. BACKGROUND: As COVID-19 is a new disease, its spread and emergence cause fear, anxiety and confusion among the general population. Nurses are in close contact with infected persons, and their knowledge plays an important role in preventing the transmission chain. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 207 nurses were selected using convenience sampling from 29 March to 19 April 2020. The study used a questionnaire assessing the nurses' baseline characteristics, their source of information, knowledge, concerns, the perceived impact and their preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic. RESULTS: Around half of the surveyed nurses (51.2%) reported that the Ministry of Health's and World Health Organization's websites and official pages were their main sources of information. The majority of nurses (81.6%) knew the nature of the virus, 83.6% agreed that their job puts them at risk of infection with COVID-19 and 72% felt personally prepared for the pandemic. CONCLUSION: The majority of nurses had an acceptable level of knowledge regarding COVID-19. However, psychological interventions are needed to be addressed in the planning stage before any pandemic.