The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously impacted various aspects of the society on a global scale. Schools and universities provide rich resources for adolescents and young adults to develop significan...

Background:Knowledge, perception, and preventive behavior should be considered in the planning of effective educational interventions for the coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and in increasing awareness about the health risks brought about by this disease. This research aimed to assess knowledge, perceptions, and preventive behavior toward the COVID-19 infection among student nurses.Methods:The study has quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional design. A convenience sample of 1,226 student nurses from seven universities in Saudi Arabia was surveyed from March 22 to April 4, 2020. A four-part online survey on demographic characteristics, perceptions, knowledge, and preventive behavior of Saudi student nurses was carried out.Results:Nearly all students were aware of the outbreak (99.2%), and most of them received information on COVID-19 primarily from social media (71.0%). Over three-fourths of the students were confident that the government (89.1%) and Ministry of Health (MOH) (86.5%) were doing a good job responding to the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. The overall average score in the knowledge questionnaire was 9.85 (SD = 1.62, range = 0–12), which is equivalent to 82.1%. The majority of the students always performed most of the preventive behavior identified in the survey, except “washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 s after blowing my nose, coughing, or sneezing” (39.2%) and “daily cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces” (41.6%). Being female, being in the fourth year, and gaining good perceived knowledge were associated with high actual COVID-19 knowledge. University, gender, age, academic level, and perceived COVID-19 knowledge were the associated factors.Conclusions:The findings of this study have provided baseline information on the current state of Saudi nursing students' perceptions, knowledge, and preventive behavior toward COVID-19 as the crisis is happening. The findings revealed some areas that should be focused on by nursing education, as well as health agencies, to ensure that the students have adequate knowledge and correct preventive behavior.

Aims and Objectives: To investigate the professional quality of life and caring behaviours among clinical nurses in Saudi Arabia during the COVID‐19 pandemic. We also examined the influence of the nurses’ socio‐demographic and professional characteristics on the professional quality of life. Moreover, the study examined the influence of professional quality of life on caring behaviour among the nurses amid the COVID‐19 pandemic. Background: Caring is the core of the nursing profession and considered the heart of the humanistic clinical nursing practice. However, the work nature of the clinical nurses, especially during the COVID‐19 pandemic, continues to challenge their professional quality of life and caring behaviours. The factors influencing the professional quality of life and caring behaviours of clinical nurses have not been extensively explored. Design: Cross‐sectional, descriptive study. Methods: A purposive sample of 375 clinical nurses in three academic medical centres in Saudi Arabia were surveyed using the professional quality of life version 5 and the short‐form 24‐item Caring Behavior Inventory from May–August 2020. A standard multiple regression analysis was performed to investigate the predictors of the professional quality of life and caring behaviour. This study adhered to the recommendations of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guidelines. Results: The majority of the respondents reported average level of compassion satisfaction (57.9%), burnout (54.4%) and secondary traumatic stress (66.9%) in the professional quality of life domains. The result also showed highest degree of caring in terms of ‘assurance of human presence’ while lowest in the ‘knowledge and skills’ in four subscales of caring behaviour. The following variables significantly predicted compassion satisfaction: education, area of assignment and position. Age, education and religion were identified as significant predictors of burnout while religion, nationality and position were significant predictors of secondary traumatic stress. Positive and negative domains of professional quality of life influenced the caring behaviours among clinical nurses. Conclusions: Based on the results of the study, clinical nurses exhibited moderate level of professional quality of life and correlates to their caring behaviours. Moreover, clinical nurses’ demographic characteristics predicted their professional quality of life and caring behaviours. Relevance to clinical practice: The importance of ensuring good professional quality of life and caring behaviour among clinical nurses during the COVID‐19 pandemic is underscored. Nursing leaders can utilise this baseline evidence and apply programmes for clinical nurses to tackle professional quality of life issues and enhance caring behaviours.