Health care workers indicate ill preparedness for Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in Ashanti Region of Ghana

Abstract

BackgroundThe recent Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) epidemic that hit some countries in West Africa underscores the need to train front line high-risk health workers on disease prevention skills. Although Ghana did not record (and is yet to) any case, and several health workers have received numerous training schemes, there is no record of any study that assessed preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWS) regarding EVD and any emergency prone disease in Ghana. We therefore conducted a hospital based cross sectional study involving 101 HCWs from two facilities in Kumasi, Ghana to assess the level of preparedness of HCWs to respond to any possible EVD.MethodsWe administered a face-to-face questionnaire using an adapted WHO (2015) and CDC (2014) Checklist for Ebola Preparedness and assessed overall knowledge gaps, and preparedness of the Ghanaian HCWs in selected health facilities of the Ashanti Region of Ghana from October to December 2015.ResultsA total 92 (91.09%) HCWs indicated they were not adequately trained to handle an EVD suspected case. Only 25.74% (n = 26) considered their facilities sufficiently equipped to handle and manage EVD patients. When asked which disinfectant to use after attending to and caring for a suspected patient with EVD, only 8.91% (n = 9) could correctly identify the right disinfectant (χ2 = 28.52, p = 0.001).ConclusionOur study demonstrates poor knowledge and ill preparedness and unwillingness of many HCWs to attend to EVD. Beyond knowledge acquisition, there is the need for more training from time to time to fully prepare HCWs to handle any possible EVD case.

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards viral haemorrhagic fevers amongst healthcare workers in urban and rural public healthcare facilities in the N’zérékoré prefecture, Guinea: a cross-sectional study

“…Despite the increased post-Ebola efforts to improve IPC performance and VHF awareness in healthcare facilities, our study hints at a gap in IPC training in the N'zérékoré region, especially in rural areas. Similar findings have been reported in other West African countries [21,28]. Surprisingly, this gap does not seem to translate into a lack of [29].…”

Knowledge, attitudes and practices towards viral haemorrhagic fevers amongst healthcare workers in urban and rural public healthcare facilities in the N’zérékoré prefecture, Guinea: a cross-sectional study

“…Despite the increased post-Ebola efforts to improve IPC performance and VHF awareness in healthcare facilities, our study hints at a gap in IPC training in the N'zérékoré region, especially in rural areas. Similar findings have been reported in other West African countries [21,28]. Surprisingly, this gap does not seem to translate into a lack of knowledge or deficient practices towards VHF.…”

Nurses’ experiences of health concerns, teamwork, leadership and knowledge transfer during an Ebola outbreak in West Africa

“…• How healthcare workers are prepared to care for Ebola patients in West Africa (Adongo et al, 2017;Andertun, Hörnsten, & Hajdarevic, 2017;Annan et al, 2017;Cranmer et al, 2015;Gee & Skovdal, 2017a, 2017bKollie, Winslow, Pothier, & Gaede, 2017;Von Strauss, Paillard-Borg, Holmgren, & Saaristo, 2017;Turtle et al, 2015).…”

“…By examining previous research on EVD, nurses and nursing between 2014–2018, it is possible to gain an overview of the main areas previously investigated. Research questions have previously addressed: How healthcare workers are prepared to care for Ebola patients in West Africa (Adongo et al, ; Andertun, Hörnsten, & Hajdarevic, ; Annan et al, ; Cranmer et al, ; Gee & Skovdal, ; Kollie, Winslow, Pothier, & Gaede, ; Von Strauss, Paillard‐Borg, Holmgren, & Saaristo, ; Turtle et al, ). The importance of nurses’ skills and competences in fighting Ebola (Baltzell, McLemore, Shattell, & Rankin, ; Sagar, ). How healthcare workers/nurses are treated on their return after an Ebola mission (Gee & Skovdal, ). How nursing students are prepared to care for Ebola patients in the Western care context (Chilton, McNeil, & Alfred, ; McNiel & Elertson, ). How well‐prepared healthcare professionals/nurses in a Western context are to care for Ebola patients (Baduage, Moss, & Morphe, ; Eckes et al, ; Rajiah et al, ; Smit et al, ). Perceptions of healthcare workers/nurses who have been infected with Ebola (Johnson, ). Nurses’ attitudes towards caring for patients with Ebola in a Western care context (Narasimhuli et al, ; Speroni, Seibert, & Mallinson, ). The public's understanding of nurses’ caring role in an Ebola outbreak (McGillis Hall & Kashin, ). …”