Assessment of Healthcare Workers’ Levels of Preparedness and Awareness Regarding COVID-19 Infection in Low-Resource Settings

Abstract

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is spreading rapidly worldwide, with devastating consequences for patients, healthcare workers, health systems, and economies. As it reaches low-and middle-income countries, the pandemic puts healthcare workers at high risk and challenges the abilities of healthcare systems to respond to the crisis. This study measured levels of knowledge and preparedness regarding COVID-19 among physicians and nurses. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare workers in Libya between February 26 and March 10, 2020. We obtained 1,572 valid responses of a possible 2,000 (78.6%) participants from 21 hospitals, of which 65.1% were from physicians and 34.9% from nurses. The majority of participants (70%) used social media as a source of information. A total of 47.3% of doctors and 54.7% of nurses received adequate training on how to effectively use personal protective equipment. Low confidence in managing suspected COVID-19 patients was reported by 83.8% of participants. Furthermore, 43.2% of healthcare workers were aware of proper hand hygiene techniques. Less than 7% of participants received training on how to manage COVID-19 cases, whereas 20.6% of doctors and 26.3% of nurses felt that they were personally prepared for the outbreak. Awareness and preparedness for the pandemic were low among frontline workers during the study. Therefore, an effective educational training program should be implemented to ensure maintenance of appropriate practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Knowledge and Attitude towards 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Among Health Care Workers in Tripoli, Libya

“…Nearly 89.3% perceived that they had adequate knowledge about COVID-19, and 41.2% con rmed getting knowledge about COVID-19 from the international health websites. This differs from the ndings of previously published studies, where social media was the main sources of information [9,10]. This shows that the educational policies and guidelines posted online by the international health organizations encouraged the HCWs to follow them.…”

Psychological Impact of the Civil War and COVID-19 on Libyan Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Since the emergence of the first case of COVID-19 in Libya on March 24, 2020 (Elhadi et al, 2020a), the number of COVID-19 cases has substantially increased in many cities, with up to 11,834 confirmed cases and more than 210 deaths by August 26, 2020. The unpreparedness of the Libyan healthcare system toward the COVID-19 pandemic, which can be explained by the large number of cases and shortage of medical supplies, as well as the ongoing conflict, have placed an increased burden on Libyan medical students and the general population; the civil war has caused a financial crisis and reduced the ability of the healthcare system to provide adequate training opportunities for newly graduated medical students (Elhadi and Msherghi, 2020;Elhadi et al, 2020b). This, coupled with the closure of medical schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with extended electrical blackout issues, may have resulted in substantial frustrations and increases in anxiety and depression among medical students, especially for those in high-conflict areas or who were internally displaced from their homes.…”

Reflecting on the first two COVID-19 deaths in Uganda: a public health case study

“…After initiation of emergency responses, healthcare workers and hospital support staff may not have dedicated enough time for systematic training and practice. Professional/ supportive supervision and guidance, as well as monitoring mechanisms, should be improved in both Government and Private facilities nationwide to avoid amplifying the risk of infection for healthcare workers [19]. Recommendations such as tra c control bundling and Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model in which patients move along routes other than those taken by all HCWs and support staff should be considered [20,21].…”