INFORMATION AND THOUGHTS OF NURSING STUDENTS ON THE USE OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine nursing students' knowledge and thoughts about the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). This descriptive study was conducted between February and April 2022. The population of the study consisted of students studying in the nursing department of a foundation university. The study reached 87.8% of the sample. The data was collected by the researchers through face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire based on the literature. The data obtained in the study was analysed using SPSS 25.0 programme. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test for comparison of categorical variables were used in the analysis of the data and the level of significance was taken as p <0.05. It was found that students made errors in the order of putting on (51.2%) and removing (32.5%) the PPE. İt was found that the knowledge level of students who had received training on occupational health and safety was higher than that of students who had not received training (p <0.05). Although nursing students lacked basic understanding of PPE, they were found to have good attitudes towards its use. In addition, it was found that the OHS instruction provided to the students helped them to increase their knowledge about PPE.