Nurses’ perception of Using Dexamethasone (Decadron) For COVID-19 Patients: Based on PCS Model

Abstract

Objectives: To identify nurses’ perception of using Dexamethasone for COVID-19 patients and how the medical, hospital, and community aspects interfere the use of this medication.
Methodology: It is a cross-sectional study that conducted among nurses in Duhok City/ Kurdistan region/Iraq. The questionnaire was developed by the authors for the purpose of this study, and it was composed of two main parts. Part one is related to demographics and part two is divided to three subscales which asking for the medical, hospital, and community aspects. The data analysis was conducted by using SPSS (Version25). Descriptive analysis was conducted using frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. To identify the relationship between the aspects, Chi-square test was conducted.
Results: The study revealed that the nurses know the importance and effectiveness of using dexamethasone for COVID-19 patients and its role in decreasing the need for mechanical ventilation and oxygen administration. The community has an impact on nurses’ work and intervention regarding the use of dexamethasone (Decadron) for COVID-19 patients.
Conclusion: The study highlighted essential points regarding the use of dexamethasone (Decadron) for COVID-19 patients. The health care providers included nurses need to ensure that dexamethasone (Decadron) is one of the effective medications for COVID-19 patients despite the impact of community on their implications.
Recommendations: the authors recommended more study to be conducted to identify COVID-19 patients’ knowledge and perception regarding the use of Dexamethasone and other medications that are used for COVID-19. Also, increasing community orientation and knowledge regarding this disease by television programs, seminars, and group works.

Keywords: Dexamethasone (Decadron), Community, COVID-19, COVID-19 treatments, Nurses’ perception