Elixir International Journal-Elixir Nursing, cilt.170, sa.9, ss.56432-56437, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
ABSTRACT
This study is planned to determine the knowledge of personal protective equipment use
of senior paramedic students before graduation during COVID-19 pandemic. The
research is a descriptive study. The universe of the study consisted of 180 senior
paramedic students studying at three universities in Izmir. When evaluating the study
data, descriptive findings were expressed as percentage, mean, standard deviation and
median. 38.1% of the students are between 18-20 years old, 50.0% are between 21-23
years old and 11.9% are 23 years old and above. 58.3% of the students participating in
the study are females and 41.7% are males. In the study, 74.4% of paramedic students
stated that healthcare personnel working in ambulance or patient transport vehicles
should use medical masks, gowns, gloves and eye protection while transporting
suspected COVID-19- (SARS-CoV-2) patients to the health institution. 78.5% of the
students answered that an N95/FFP2 mask should be used while intervening and taking
samples in a patient suspected o having COVID-19. As a result, it was found that during
the COVID-19 pandemic period, the knowledge of personal protective equipment use of
senior paramedic students before graduation is sufficient in some cases and not clear and
sufficient in some cases. It is recommended that students should be given effective
training on the use of PPE during the intervention of the patient with COVID-19 before
graduation. It is known that the use of personal protective equipment is preventive in the
transmission of the virus. There are studies supporting that the contact of healthcare
professionals with patients with covid-19 increases their anxiety. In our study, it was
thought that it would be helpful to determine whether paramedic students, who will be in
the risk group to come into contact with covid-19 patients in the prehospital area, have
sufficient knowledge about the use of personal protective equipment. In this direction, it
is thought that it will contribute to the content of the training on the use of personal
protective equipment during the covid-19 pandemic process