Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University and Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
2
Department of Nursing Administration, Damanhour University, Damanhour, Egypt, Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract
Introduction: The continuing unpredictable spread of COVID-19 all over the
world signifies a critical challenge for the whole countries. Nurses have significant
role in prevention and controlling of COVID-19, and investments to improve their
understanding and competences will ensure awareness for future epidemics. Aim of
Work: To compare the knowledge, attitude, awareness towards rights, responsibilities,
and commitment to role of occupational health and safety among nurses in two hospitals,
King Abdullah University Hospital (KAAUH) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the other is
Amiri University Hospital (AMUH), Alexandria Egypt. Materials and Methods: A
cross-sectional comparative study was done during the period from May to July 2020,
90 nurses were recruited from Saudi Arabia and 140 nurses from Egypt using a nonprobability
convenient sampling method. Two identical online questionnaires were
developed and distributed using emails and WhatsApp in both hospitals. Questionnaire
included questions related to sociodemographic characteristics, awareness of nurses’
rights, responsibilities and commitment to practice regarding occupational safety
and health during the pandemic, also assessing nurses’ knowledge and attitude of
the COVID-19 infection control measures. Results: Nurses from KAAUH scored
significantly higher than nurses from AMUH in knowledge, attitude, awareness of
rights, awareness of responsibilities and commitment to role of occupational safety
and health during the pandemic. Conclusion and Recommendations: Findings of the
current study revealed enough awareness of occupational health and safety guidelines by
most participants in both hospitals. However, we recommend updating knowledge and
attitude of nurses towards hospital occupational health and safety through continuing
in-service educational programs as they are the largest health care workers (HCWs)
group, and they have very important and significant roles.
Keywords
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