Nurses' preparedness against the middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus outbreak: A cross-sectional study in Iran

Objective: This study aimed to determine the preparedness of Iranian nurses against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak and influencing factors. Design: A cross-sectional study. Materials and methods: One hundred and fifty five nurses in emergency and Intensive Care Units of two hospitals in the northwest of Iran were selected via stratified random sampling. Data was collected through a questionnaire with three dimensions of management and prevention, training for coronavirus and awareness of the center's policies for information transmission and infection control. Results: The percentage of nurses' preparedness in total was 51.27%. The preparedness score of training for coronavirus was the least of the three (31.77%), but dimensions of management and prevention (55.13%) and awareness of the center's policies for information transmission and infection control (58.42%) needs planing to improvement too. The nurses preparedness signifi-cantly related with presence in a training program, educational level, age, nursing work experience, work experience in current department and the number of hours of training for coronavirus. Conclusions: Iranian nurses showed moderate preparedness against MERS-CoV. They needed to be prepared for the outbreak of coronavirus, especially in terms of in-service training for dealing against diseases caused by coronavirus.