Determining the Compliance of Intern Nursing Students with Isolation Precautions in the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

Objective: This study aimed to determine the compliance of intern nurses with isolation precautions in the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic period.Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 4th-year intern nurses (n=90) receiving education at the vocational school of health of a state university in November 2020. The data were collected by using a Questionnaire Form and the "Isolation Precautions Compliance Scale". In data analysis, percentage, mean, Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U test were used in the SPSS software.Results: The mean age of the intern nurses who participated in the study was 22 +/- 1.43 years, 74.4% were female, 51.1% were graduates of Anatolian high schools. Intern nurses 95.6% had received training on isolation precautions, and 81.1% received this training from a course instructor during their undergraduate studies. In was determined that 71.1% of the participants provided nursing care for patients who were under isolation during clinical practice, and 91.1% had knowledge that isolation precautions need to be implemented in the nursing care of patients diagnosed with COVID-19. The mean Isolation Precautions Compliance Scale total score of the participants was 71.92 +/- 5.74. There was no significant difference in the mean Isolation Precautions Compliance Scale total scores of the participants based on their sociodemographic characteristics and isolation precautions.Conclusion: It was determined that the compliance of the intern nursing students, whose nursing labor could be needed in the COVID-19 pandemic period, with isolation precautions was on a good level.