A teleconference to increase nurses⇔ knowledge and attitudes to prevent and control COVID-19 infection

This study aimed to determine the effects of a teleconference on nurses’ knowledge and attitudes in the prevention and control of COVID-19 infection. The present study employed a pre-post experimental design without a control group with a total of 60 nurses as participants. The study was conducted in three hospitals in Semarang city. The inclusion criteria were nurses who worked in the emergency unit, COVID-19 isolation units, and ICU, as well as those who were permanent nurses and were not on duty while receiving the intervention. Meanwhile, the exclusion criteria were nurses who had less than two-year work experience and were apprentice nurses. This study was conducted by providing the intervention on the prevention and control of COVID-19 infection via teleconferences. Data were collected using the knowledge and attitude questionnaire that had been tested for its validity and reliability. The data on knowledge and attitudes were analysed using the paired t-test, while the participants’ characteristics were presented descriptively in the frequency and percentage tables. The results indicated that there was an increase in the participants’ knowledge and attitudes. The paired t-test showed a significant value in the knowledge (p=0.000) and attitudes (p=0.005) after the provision of teleconferences for infection control (TIC). This research is a part of the communication and information technology research in nursing. Teleconferences can expand the understanding of information about infection prevention and control during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2021 by SPC (Sami Publishing Company)