Assessing the Preparedness of Military Clinical Nurses in the Face of Biological Threats: with a Focus on the COVID-19 Disease

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Trauma Research Center, Faculty of Nursing, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Chemical Injuries Research Center, Systems Biology and Poisonings Institute, School of Pharmacy, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background and Aim: The preparation of the healthcare staff is one of the influencing factors in providing the correct treatment, care, and proper control to deal with biological threats. Since the preparation of nurses is understood under the influence of variables of knowledge, attitude, performance, and sense of danger, so this study aims to determine the level of knowledge, attitude, performance, and sense of danger of military clinical nurses in facing biological threats with special emphasis on COVID-19 disease.
Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional descriptive-correlation study that was conducted in 2021 using stratified random sampling in 600 military clinical nurses in selected hospitals of East Azerbaijan. The validity and reliability of the nurses' preparation questionnaires were evaluated by calculating the content validity ratio (CVR=0.94) and content validity index (CVI=0.83). The information obtained from the questionnaires was entered into SPSS statistical software and the data analysis was performed at a significance level of 5%.
Results: The preparedness of military clinical nurses in facing biological threats during the covid-19 pandemic had a significant correlation with the variables related to knowledge, attitude, performance, and sense of perceived risk (P<0.001). Univariate regression analysis showed that male nurses had a weaker level of knowledge and attitude and sense of perceived risk regarding the covid-19 disease. But female nurses had better performance than male nurses. In this study, history of suffering from this disease (P=0.683) and work shift (P=0.877) did not have a significant relationship with the performance of nurses in the face of covid-19 disease.
Conclusion: The level of knowledge and performance of clinical nurses is favorable and the level of their attitude and sense of perceived risk is average. It seems that in order to ensure the readiness of nursing staff against biological threats such as the covid-19 epidemic and to maintain it at the desired level, it is necessary to carry out interventions such as continuous training and in-service training.

Keywords


1. The Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Emergency Response Epidemiology T. The Epidemiological Characteristics of an Outbreak of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Diseases (COVID-19) - China, 2020. China CDC weekly. 2020;2(8):113-22. 2. Ghiyasi S, Verdi Baghdadi F, Hashemzadeh F, Soltanzadeh A. Assessing the Components of Crisis Management: A Comparative Study in Private and Public Hospitals. occupational hygine and health promotion journal. 2022;5(4):285-94.[In Persian] 3. Eghbali M, Negarandeh R, Froutan R. COVID-19 epidemic: Hospital-level response. Nursing Practice Today. 2020;7(2):81-3. 4. Jansen HJ, Breeveld FJ, Stijnis C, Grobusch MP. Biological warfare, bioterrorism, and biocrime. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2014;20(6):488-96. 5. Bojić I, Vukadinov J, Minić S. [Diseases caused by viruses and toxins in biological warfare and bioterrorism]. Med Pregl. 2007;60(5-6):295-8. 6. Moayed MS, Vahedian-Azimi A, Mirmomeni G, Rahimi-Bashar F, Goharimoghadam K, Pourhoseingholi MA, et al. A survey of psychological distress among the community in the COVID-19 epidemic: A cross-sectional study. Clinical, Biological and Molecular Aspects of COVID-19: Springer; 2021. p. 253-60. 7. Moayed MS, Vahedian-Azimi A, Mirmomeni G, Rahimi-Bashar F, Goharimoghadam K, Pourhoseingholi MA, et al. Survey of immediate psychological distress levels among healthcare workers in the COVID-19 epidemic: a cross-sectional study. Clinical, Biological and Molecular Aspects of COVID-19: Springer; 2021. p. 237-43. 8. Hsu S-T, Chou L-S, Chou FH-C, Hsieh K-Y, Chen C-L, Lu W-C, et al. Challenge and strategies of infection control in psychiatric hospitals during biological disasters—From SARS to COVID-19 in Taiwan. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 2020;54:102270. 9. Behera BK, Prasad R, Shyambhavee. Chapter 6 - Emergency disaster risk management for health. In: Behera BK, Prasad R, Shyambhavee, editors. Healthcare Strategies and Planning for Social Inclusion and Development: Academic Press; 2022. p. 139-77. 10. Tandon R. The COVID-19 pandemic, personal reflections on editorial responsibility. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 2020;50:102100. 11. Azadian S, Shirali GA, Saki A. Evaluation Reliability and Validity a Questionnaire to Assess Crisis Management Based on Seven Principles of Resilience Engineering Approach in Hospitals. IOH. 2016;13(1):15-26. [In Persian] 12. Carpenter D. Disaster Nursing and Emergency Preparedness for Chemical, Biological, and Radiological Terrorism and Other Hazards. AORN Journal. 2006;83(2):514. 13. Ley CA, Cintron CM, McCamant KL, Karpman MB, Meisenberg BR. COVID-19-related anxieties: Impact on duty to care among nurses. Nurs Ethics. 2022:9697330211057192. 14. Qureshi K, Gershon RRM, Sherman MF, Straub T, Gebbie E, McCollum M, et al. Health care workers' ability and willingness to report to duty during catastrophic disasters. J Urban Health. 2005;82(3):378-88. 15. Esmail Heidaranlu B, Ebadi A, Ardalan A, Khankeh H. A scrutiny of tools used for assessment of hospital disaster preparedness in Iran. American journal of disaster medicine. 2015;10(4):325-38. 16. Williamson G. COVID-19 Epidemic Editorial. The Open Nursing Journal. 2020;14(1). 17. Araghizadeh H, Khoshmohabat H, Hossini SH, Moayed MS. Pattern of Injury and Outcome of Victims in Ahvaz Terrorist Attack. Trauma monthly. 2021;26(2):100-5. 18. Said NB, Chiang VCL. The knowledge, skill competencies, and psychological preparedness of nurses for disasters: A systematic review. International Emergency Nursing. 2020;48:100806. 19. Alwani SS, Majeed MM, Hirwani MZ, Rauf S, Saad SM, Shah H, et al. Evaluation of Knowledge, Practices, Attitude and Anxiety of Pakistan’s Nurses towards COVID-19 during the Current Outbreak in Pakistan. medRxiv. 2020:2020.06.05.20123703. 20. Zokaei MS, Ebrahimi M. Iranian Nurses Facing covid 19: Experiences, Challenges and Opportunities. Strategic Studies of public policy. 2021;11(39):404-24. 21. Zhong B-L, Luo W, Li H-M, Zhang Q-Q, Liu X-G, Li W-T, et al. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. International journal of biological sciences. 2020;16(10):1745. 22. Cevik AB, Kasapoglu ES. The relationships between knowledge levels, health-protective practices, and anxiety in nurses in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work. 2022(Preprint):1-10. 23. Huynh G, Nguyen TNH, Vo KN, Pham LA. Knowledge and attitude toward COVID-19 among healthcare workers at District 2 Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Medicine. 2020;13(6):260. 24. Mohd Salleh Sahimi H, Azman N, Nik Jaafar NR, Mohd Daud TI, Baharudin A, Ismail AK, et al. Health Anxiety and Its Correlations with Self-Perceived Risk and Attitude on COVID-19 among Malaysian Healthcare Workers during the Pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021;18(9). 25. Lai X, Wang X, Yang Q, Xu X, Tang Y, Liu C, et al. Will healthcare workers improve infection prevention and control behaviors as COVID-19 risk emerges and increases, in China? Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control. 2020;9(1):83. 26. Lee M, Kang B-A, You M. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) toward COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in South Korea. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):295. 27. Deressa W, Worku A, Abebe W, Gizaw M, Amogne W. Risk perceptions and preventive practices of COVID-19 among healthcare professionals in public hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. PLOS ONE. 2021;16(6):e0242471. 28. Rahmanian M, Kamali AR, Foroughian M, Kalani N, Esmaealpour N, Hatami N, et al. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Medical and Administrative Staff in Exposure and Non-exposure to Covid 19 Virus in Jahrom: A Cross-sectional Descriptive Study in 2020. Journal of Arak University of Medical Sciences. 2020;23(5):750-65.