Abstract
When a health pandemic occurs, most focus is on patients, and less attention is given
to healthcare workers (nurses). However, nurses are severely affected by global
pandemics because they must render nursing care facing new circumstances that also
affect their health. Literature suggests that policies and guidelines are developed to
guide nurses on the correct ways of functioning. However, based on statistics of
infection and death rates among nurses during the Covid-19 pandemic, gaps were
identified. These gaps included a lack of communication strategies, a lack of nurses’
involvement in policy development, and a lack of training on best practices. This study
aimed to investigate the availability of Covid-19 infection control policies and frontline
nurses’ adherence to these policies during the Covid pandemic at an academic
hospital. The study’s outcome will assist in identifying gaps, and recommendations will
enable or encourage nursing departments to re-align themselves. In addition, the
outcomes of the study could also be used to facilitate recommendations on future
disaster preparedness and clinical curriculum development, including disaster
planning development and application.
A quantitative research design and descriptive comparative research method were
used for this study. The study was conducted over three phases, which consisted of a
document analysis, adherence assessment and observation phase. Phase one was a
desk analysis conducted to determine the completeness and comprehensiveness of
the policy. The study was conducted with frontline nurses in emergency departments
rendering care to Covid-19 patients at a specific academic hospital in Gauteng.
Stratified random sampling was used for this study. The questionnaires consisted of
different sections for phases two and three, but both enquired about respondents’
demographic data (Section A). Section B was a policy evaluation questionnaire, and
section C was a Likert scale questionnaire to assess adherence. Phase three had the
additional observation questionnaire. The reliability and validity of the employed
instrument were assessed and ensured.
The data analysis was conducted using SPSS software version 27, descriptive and
inferential statistics to draw conclusions. The results were reported as numbers,
percentages, mean, mode, and standard deviations. On assessment, the biographic
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data did not indicate any correlation to nurses’ adherence. The results are a guide for
future recommendations on what measures can be established to ensure nurses’
adherence to policies, not only during pandemics but for continuous functioning in their
nursing care.
Throughout the study, aspects of ethical considerations were adhered to.
Keywords: Covid-19, Donabedian research, Frontline nurses, Nurses, Policy
adherence, Quantitative research.