Preparedness of Iranian nurses against COVID-19: An analytical study

Milad Ahmadi Marzaleh; Mahmoudreza Peyravi; Nasrin Shokrpour; Firouz Khaledi; Rahimali Shaikhy; Vahid Saadatmand; Hassan Khaledi

doi:10.1002/hsr2.1672

Preparedness of Iranian nurses against COVID-19: An analytical study

Health Sci Rep. 2023 Oct 30;6(11):e1672. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.1672. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Authors

Milad Ahmadi Marzaleh¹, Mahmoudreza Peyravi¹, Nasrin Shokrpour², Firouz Khaledi³, Rahimali Shaikhy³, Vahid Saadatmand¹, Hassan Khaledi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies School of Management and Medical Informatics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
² Department of English Language Faculty of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences Shiraz Iran.
³ Faculty of Nursing Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences Shahrekord Iran.

Abstract

Background and aims: The reasons for the unfavorable performance of hospitals in providing care to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients include the lack of preparation, knowledge, and relevant skills, making it necessary to evaluate the preparedness of nurses to respond to COVID-19. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the preparedness of hospitals affiliated with Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022.

Methods: In this analytical study, data were collected from 350 randomly selected nurses who worked in three hospitals affiliated with Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences; demographic information tools and the preparation of nurses for COVID-19 patients were used to collect the data. We analyzed the data using SPSS software version 26.

Results: The mean and standard deviation of the total preparation score was 118.85 ± 0.98. The lowest (6.80 ± 0.18) and highest (23.35 ± 0.19) average values belonged to risk assessment and management and COVID-19, respectively. The score of nurses' preparedness to deal with COVID-19 was not statistically correlated with age, work experience, and so on. The average preparation score was significantly different in different treatment departments (operating room and COVID-19).

Conclusion: The preparation of nurses was low in dealing with COVID-19. Thus, managers of nursing services should design and implement educational programs to strengthen the nurses' weaknesses and ultimately increase their awareness and skills in dealing with disasters.

Keywords: COVID‐19; hospital; nurses; preparedness.