Enhancing Nurses’ Knowledge and Skills in COVID19 through Learning Need Assessment

Preparedness of nurses who are in direct contact with COVID19 patients is a key as they can play a major role in preventing the spread of COVID-19. Enhancing nurses’ knowledge and practice to gain the maximum knowledge and skills related to COVID19 can make them more competent in protecting themselves, their patients, and their communities at large. The aim of this study is to identify nursing skills and knowledge deficits related to COVID19 to provide nurses with an education that enables them to provide safe and effective patient care. Method: A self-administered questionnaire containing socio-demographic data, knowledge domain, and skills domain (questions indicating their current knowledge and skills in COVID19 was distributed. Results: the majority of nurses at E1 cluster hospitals (n=1022) had brilliant knowledge and skills about COVID-19. The major performance gap was knowledge deficit related to infection control standards precautions. Conclusion: Nurses should enhance their knowledge related to infection control standard precautions and further studies are still needed to assess nurses’ attitudes as equal to knowledge and skills.