INTRODUCTION:

A corona virus is a kind of common virus that causes an infection in nose, sinuses, upper throat and lower respiratory tract. All corona viruses are not dangerous. Corona virus are enveloped viruses containing a single stranded, positive sense RNA genome of approximately 29,000 nucleotides. A distinctive club shaped projection is present over the virus surface which gives the appearance of a crown or corona from which its name was derived. Four corona virus genera (Alpha, Beta, Gamma & Delta) have been identified so far, with human infection only seen in Alpha (Guery et al., 2013).

In early 2020, after a December 2019 out break in China, the World Health Organization identified SARS-CoV-2 as a new type of corona virus. The outbreak quickly spread around the world. COVID-19 is a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 that can trigger a respiratory tract infection. It spreads the same way other corona viruses do, mainly through person-to-person contact. Infections range from mild to deadly.

SARS-CoV-2 is one of seven types of corona virus, including the ones that cause severe diseases like Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and sudden acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The other corona viruses cause most of the colds that affect us during the year but aren’t a serious threat for otherwise healthy people.

The virus is transmitted from person to person in the form of fomites, when the person coughs and sneezes. The infection also spreads from when an individual comes in direct contact with the infected surface and the touches his or her nose, eyes or mouth. Droplet transmission usually do not travel more than 6 feet and do not linger in air for a longer period (Schwartz & Graham, 2020).

The incubation period is thought to be within 14 days following exposure, with most cases occurring between four to five days of infection. The spectrum of illness depending on the symptoms ranges from mild to critical. The asymptomatic spread of infection has been documented diamond price cruise ship when all its occupants were tested. Approximately 17 % of them tested positive for the virus in which half of them are asymptomatic (Lu et al., 2020)

NEED FOR THE STUDY:

The virus has caused an outbreak of viral pneumonia. It was first reported by Chinese authorities in Wuhan city at the end of December 2019⁴.

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a public emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) and on 11 March 2020, a pandemic. Nurses play a vital role in health care system and health team. All health care professionals especially nurses are on the front-line battling against this pandemic and providing services to patient which is helpful to control and prevent COVID-19 pandemic. As the evidence suggests that the disease is transmitted from person to person through the droplets. Health care workers are at a high risk of being infected by the viral disease and protecting the health care workers is of great importance. At present 9,614,017 active cases of COVID-19 and 35,079,152 confirmed cases are present worldwide and in India 9,34,427 active cases of COVID-19 and 66,23,815 confirmed cases. (Times of India dated:05/10/2020)

We have seen unprecedented work by nurses directly involved in COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, India has 3.07 million registered nursing personnel, government told the Rajya Sabha on March 3, 2020. This includes nurses, midwives, auxiliary nurse midwives, and woman health visitors. COVID -19 has reached the pandemic state and has become a topic of discussion in media outlets and among general public, especially health care workers and patients. For this reason we have investigated health care workers knowledge towards the present emerging health crisis.

Nursing students are the future health care providers. The health of world is in the hands of nursing student. So the quality of training and teaching definitely affect the outcomes.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to assess knowledge regarding covid-19 among nursing students in Maharashtra.

OBJECTIVE:

1 To asses the knowledge regarding COVID-19 among nursing students.

2 To find out association between knowledge regarding covid-19 with selected demographic variables.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

A descriptive study was carried out under IQAC committee of Gokhale Education Society’s, Sir Dr. M. S. Gosavi Institute of Nursing Education, Training and Research, Nashik. This study was conducted in the month of June 2020 between 26/06/2020 to 30/06/2020 when all the students were at their home due to the lock down period. The non-probability Convenience sampling method was used and the sample size was 421. All undergraduate student s from first year to final year, G.N.M students from first year to final year and post graduate students were involved in this study. By the investigators a online structured questionnaire was developed. The link of the questionnaire was shared with the students.

After their consent to take the survey, they filled up the demographic variables and questionnaire related to the knowledge of COVID-19 appeared sequentially, which participant answered. The socio-demographic variables include age, programme of study, year of study, place and under which University they are studying (Section I). An online self-reported questionnaire was developed by the investigator which contains a total of 25 questions.(Section II) Out of 25 questions the 05 questions are about basic knowledge regarding COVID-19, 05 questions are about incidence, symptoms and diagnosis of COVID-19, 12 questions are about preventive measures and 03 questions were about clinical trials and researches about COVID-19. The questionnaire was prepared from current guidelines and information for health care personnel provided by ICMR and WHO.

After approval of ethics committee, consent was taken from all the participants before starting the online survey. All participants were explained about purpose of the study and directed to complete the online survey.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

The obtained data was coded validated and analyzed. Descriptive analysis was applied to calculate frequencies and means.

RESULTS:

A total of 421 respondents completed the study questionnaire, 25 questions were asked about the knowledge awareness.

Section I:

Table No .1. Percentage distribution of demographic variables of the nursing students N=421

S. No.	Characteristics	Categories	Frequency	Percentage (%)
1	Age in Years	17-21 Years	311	73.88%
		22-26 Years	90	21.38%
		27-31 Years	11	2.61%
		Above 32	9	2.13%
2	Gender	Male	149	35.4%
2	Gender	Female	272	64.6%
3.	Programme of Study	M.Sc.	29	6.9%
		B.Sc. Nursing	297	70.5%
		Post B.B.SC.	13	3.1%
		G.N.M.	82	19.1%
4.	Year of the study	First Year	109	25.80%
		Second Year	235	55.82%
		Third Year	53	12.58%
		Fourth Year	24	5.80%

SECTION II :

Table.No.2 Findings related to area wise knowledge score of nursing students N=421

Sr.No.	Area	Max Score	Mean	SD
1	Basic Information about CORONA Virus	5	2.4	1.1
2	Incidence, Symptoms, Diagnosis of COVID -19	5	2.903	0.1399
3	Preventive Measures	12	7.672	2.151
4	Clinical Trial and Researches related COVID-19	3	1.97	0.77007
Total		25	14.945	4.16097

The above table shows that highest mean score (7.672 ) which is 65% of the total score(average) was obtained of Preventive measures, and the lowest mean score ( 2.4) which is 47% of the total score (poor)in the area of basic information about COVID -19. It indicating the poor knowledge of participants. Overall score of knowledge is (14.945) which is 60% of the total score(average) level of knowledge.

Table No. 3 Association between knowledge about Covid-19 with selected demographic variables.

S. No.	Characteristics	Chisquare	Level of significant
1	Age in Years	0.10	Not significant
2	Gender	0.03	Not significant
3.	Programme of Study	3.92 0*	Significant

(df - 1) Table value 3.84 P< 0.05 level *Significant

Chi-square value were calculated to find out association between knowledge score regarding Covid 19 and their selected demographic variables. Finding revealed that there was significant association between knowledge and programme of study (ϰ²=3.92). at p <0.05 level. There was no significant association found between knowledge with age in years and genders.

CONCLUSION:

There is strong need to implement periodic educational interventions and training progrmmes on infection control practices and other updates of COVID-19 across nursing students and health care professionals. Additional online campaigns and educational programmes are required. This will definitely improve the knowledge and confidence of nursing students and protect themselves from COVID-19 and able to give care to patients with COVID-19.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The author would like to thank Institutional Ethics Committee and Society for giving permission to conduct this study. We are thankful to all the nursing students who participate in the study and also to Mr. Nitin Nirmal for his cooperation for statistical analysis.

REFERENCES:

1. Indian council of Medical research (ICMR) http://www.icmr.gov.in/.accessed on

2. Carlos WG, Dela Cruz CS, Cao B, Pasnik S, Jamil S.Novel Wuhan(2019-nCoV) Coronavirus .Am J Respir Crit Care Med.2020:201(4):7-8

3. Sharma Sk. Nursing Research and Statistics. Elsevier. New Delhi. 2018.

4. http://www.ijcmph.com

5. https://www.webmd.com/lung/coronavirus

6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

7. http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.26452/ijrps.v11iSPL1.2233

Received on 06.10.2020 Modified on 05.11.2020

Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2021; 11(1):65-67.

DOI: 10.5958/2349-2996.2021.00017.3