Perception of Junior Doctors and Nurses towards the COVID-19 Disease in a Tertiary Care Centre in North India- A Questionnaire Based Study

Background: Resident or junior doctors and nursing staff make up the backbone of any public health care facility more so in cases of centers affiliated to teaching hospitals. Resident physicians have the most prolonged contact with patients as they represent the first communication interface between the attending physician and the patient. Similarly, the nursing staff has a critical role in patient care. Therefore, to minimize the morbidity and mortality due to Covid-19, it is important to be fully informed and compliant with measures to contain Covid-19.

Objectives: To assess the perception of the junior doctors and nurses regarding the various aspects of Covid-19 disease.

Methods: A preformed structured questionnaire with closed end questions was sent to the study subjects using the electronic media. In this study, questionnaire was sent to the convenient sample of 250 persons (100 junior doctors or residents and 150 nurses) working in the clinical departments of the hospital, from July 20 to 27th, 2020. This questionnaire was prepared after literature reviews based on information collected from CDC Atlanta, and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), New Delhi and consisted of three sections: the demographic data, the knowledge and practices sections. The data were collected through anonymous, self-rated questionnaire that was distributed to all participants over the internet (WhatsApp and email).

Results- The questionnaire was sent to 250 persons (100 junior doctors and 150 nurses) working in the clinical departments of the hospital, out of which,139 responded comprising 58 (41.73%) junior doctors and 81 (58.27%) nurses. Overall, 79.14% (n= 110) had sufficient knowledge regarding the disease and majority (94.96%) was practicing safe measures. In univariate logistic regression analysis of various variables with knowledge, the qualification was only variable which was found to be more significantly associated as far as knowledge and practices were concerned (junior doctors as compared to nursing staff).

Conclusion- Adequate knowledge apart from defining day to day behavior of health care workers, also prepares them for coping strategies in cases of crisis in critical situation like the our world is experiencing now.