Knowledge, attitude, and anxiety of Nigerian nurses toward coronavirus: An online cross-sectional survey

Background: Health care workers have been affected the most by coronavirus all over the world. Their knowledge and attitude toward caring for people with coronavirus have neither reduced their anxiety nor number of casualties from the pandemic. The aim of this study is on knowledge, attitude, and anxiety of Nigerian nurses toward coronavirus. Methods: A cross sectional, online quantitative survey of the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria was done using multistage sampling technique. Data were collected using Google Forms from 209 nurses, and the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 20 software was used for data analysis. Level of anxiety was determined using Generalized Anxiety Disorder Assessment. Descriptive data of participants were presented in tables, charts, percentages, means, and standard deviation, while the inferential data were tested with Chi square at a significance level of P = 0.05. Results: Mean age of the respondents was 41.01 ± 8.21 years, with 13.1 ± 8.44 years as mean for years of experience. Only 57% had good knowledge with mean of 10.67 ± 1.197, while 70.8% had positive attitude toward nursing care during coronavirus pandemic. Anxiety level increased from 1.88 ± 0.82 before to 2.33 ± 0.96 during the pandemic. Association of knowledge and anxiety before and during was P = 0.79 and P = 0.27, respectively. Gender and age were significant with anxiety during the pandemic with P = 0.01 and P = 0.02, respectively. Conclusion: Adequate knowledge with positive attitude may not be enough to reduce the anxiety level of nurses, hence the need for adequate psychosocial support and provision of personal protective equipment for the nurses in other to keep them safe for optimum health workforce.