Knowledge, Attitude and Practices of Nursing Students on COVID–19 in North Cotabato

COVID – 19 infection is still widespread. State colleges and universities were gradually opened. This study was designed to assess nursing student's knowledge, attitudes, and practices about COVID-19. A correlational research design was used in this study. From July 1 to August 31, 2021, a snowball sample of 76 student nurses in North Cotabato was surveyed using an online survey tool with a Cronbach's alpha results: 0.772 for knowledge, 0.774 for attitude, and 0.898 for practices. Results revealed that majority of the respondents were second year female nursing students ages 21–23 who resides in rural areas of north Cotabato with a monthly family income of Php 15,000 and below. Primary source of information was through social media followed by school lectures, Internet/website, and television. They have excellent knowledge and very high attitude and practices on COVID-19. In addition, there was a significant relationship between the respondent’s attitude and practices (p-value = .000) but has no significant relationship between knowledge and practices (p-value = .543) . Moreover, there was no significant correlation between the respondent’s socio-demographic profile and practices. It is concluded that regardless of the respondent’s demographics, respondents can still have good knowledge. Good attitude and practices on the other hand were prominent to female second year nursing students with the aid of social media, school lectures and internet/website as source of information. The findings established a baseline for the current state of nursing students' knowledge, attitudes, and practices in North Cotabato. Furthermore, with the assistance of health agencies, areas on sources of information must be considered to ensure the reliability and validity of the information being acquired by everyone. This could help in structuring policies and procedures of each institution that enables the safe application of face-to-face system.