Are Health Workers in Nigeria Prepared for the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Case Study of Selected Health Workers in Plateau State, Nigeria
Keywords:
COVID-19, health workers, knowledge, perception, practiceAbstract
Background: COVID-19 is a disease that has resulted in a worldwide pandemic. Health workers have been identified to be at a higher risk compared to the general population due to increased exposure primarily at the work place and having to deal with a novel disease whose epidemiology is still evolving. As health workers are vital to control efforts, their response will be influenced by what they know, their perception of the disease and their practices. This study therefore sought to assess the knowledge, perceptions and practices of health workers on COVID-19 in Plateau State, Nigeria.
Method: It is a descriptive study that used a self-administered questionnaire to collect data on 105 health workers of Plateau State who were purposively selected. Data was collected on their knowledge, perceptions and practice of COVID-19 and analyzed using SPSS version 23 at a confidence interval of 95%.
Results: Mean age of health workers was 42.5 ± 9.2 years. Females made up 58% of the respondents, males were 42%. Nurses made up 69% of the respondents. More than 70% had worked for 10 – 29 years. Knowledge of COVID-19 was found to be inadequate in 57% of the health workers with social media being most frequent (69.5%) source of information. Most (86.6%) respondents had a good perception towards COVID-19 and 62.8% were willing to attend to a COVID-19 patient. There were consistent practices of hand hygiene and cough etiquette. Sixty percent had access to at least one form of personal protective equipment though 72.4% had never had training on putting on the full personal protective gear required for COVID-19.
Conclusion: There is an urgent need for training of health care workers in Plateau State and provision of full personal protective gear to ensure their safety at work.
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