Attitudes and perceptions of ICU nurses in caring for COVID-19 patients

Abstract

ICU Nurses’ attitudes and Perceptions towards COVID-19 Patients is crucial because it illuminates challenges regarding caring these patients in the critically ill. This cross-sectional descriptive correlational study employed 85 Saudi ICU nurses worked with critically ill COVID-19 patients since 2020 until present in the government hospitals affiliated in the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Hail Region. These hospitals included King Khalid Hospital, King Salman Specialist Hospital, Hail general Hospital, Maternity and Child Hospital, and Sharaf Hospital, as they all have intensive care units in different specialties. A self-administered questionnaire through online survey was used and composed of three parts, (1) socio-demographic profile of the respondents, (2) the attitudes of the respondents in Caring for COVID-19 Patients and (3) perceptions of the respondents in Caring for COVID-19 Patients. The tool was adopted from Al-Dossary et al. (2020). The majority of nurses participated in the study aged between 25-34 years old, hold bachelor’s degree, and had between 2-5 years clinical experience. Nurses’ perception and attitude were moderately positive. However, male and females were differed in respect to attitude and perception. Likewise, education, age, and length of hospital experience were also influential to the attitudes and perception. In conclusion, healthcare organizations should evaluate ICU nurses attitudes and perception of pandemics to ensure safer and optimal practice.