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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Disaster and Emergency Medicine
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1406400
This article is part of the Research Topic Learning Interventions and Training: Providing Support during Health Emergencies View all 6 articles

Competency in Responding to Infectious Disease Outbreaks Among Nurses in Primary Healthcare Institutions: A Quantitative, Cross-sectional Multicentre Study

Provisionally accepted
Wei Zhu Wei Zhu 1Jizhen Zhang Jizhen Zhang 2Liyao Yang Liyao Yang 2Jiping Li Jiping Li 1Hong-xia Guo Hong-xia Guo 2*
  • 1 West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
  • 2 Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Nurses' competencies are crucial for infectious disease prevention and control. We aimed to investigate competencies in responding to infectious disease outbreaks of nurses in primary healthcare institutions and identify their training needs. Methods: A crosssectional study was conducted from June to September 2022, recruiting nurses from primary healthcare institutions across Sichuan Province. Their competencies and training needs were assessed using a modified Emergency Response Competency Scale for Infectious Diseases. Additionally, their sociodemographic characteristics and experience in infectious disease outbreak trainings were collected. Univariate analyses were used to compare competencies and training needs by participant characteristics. Multiple linear regression was conducted to identify determinants of their competencies. Results: A total of 1,439 nurses from 44 primary healthcare institutions participated in this study. The overall competency and training needs had a median of 3.6 (IQR [3.1, 4.0]) and 4.0 (IQR [3.9, 4.7]), respectively. Age (β=-0.074, p=0.005), experience in higher authority hospitals (β=0.057, p=0.035), infectious disease outbreak trainings attended within the last 5 years (β=0.212, p<0.001), and regions where the institutions located were determinants of the competencies. Conclusion: The competencies in responding to infectious disease outbreaks among nurses in primary healthcare institutions were at a moderate level, influenced by varied factors.

    Keywords: competency, Infectious Disease, primary healthcare, Nurse practitioner, Cross-Sectional Studies

    Received: 25 Mar 2024; Accepted: 11 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zhu, Zhang, Yang, Li and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hong-xia Guo, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610065, Sichuan Province, China

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