Adherence of Nursing Students to COVID-19 Preventive Measures, Yemen: A Descriptive Study

Background: The adherence of healthcare workers to precautions of COVID-19 is a fundamental and essential element for the safety of workers and patients, this study aimed to assess nursing students’ adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures in Yemen.
Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study; it was conducted among nursing students in Yemen during the COVID-19 crisis. An online questionnaire was posted and sent to students’ groups and leaders to collect data related to nursing students’ adherence to the COVID-19 preventive measures during their clinical practice in the hospitals. The total included was 425. The data were analysed by the SPSS program.
Results: The findings of this study illustrated that nursing students’ age in Yemeni universities - ranged from 18-24 years, they studied in their second year (20%), third year (42.4%) or fourth year (37.6%). It was shown that more than half (55%) of nursing students were not adherent to preventive measures for COVID-19, they never attended family events last two weeks (92%), and never kept social distancing (76.5%). The nursing students between 20 and 22 years and those previously infected with COVID-19 are significantly more adherent to the preventive measures of COVID-19. Conclusions: The nursing students in Yemeni universities have a low level of adherence to preventive measures of COVID-19, furthermore the students between 20 and 22 years and those previously infected with COVID-19 are significantly more adherent to the preventive measures of COVID-19.