Abstract:

Introduction: College students are a vulnerable population who are more likely to experience anxiety and depressive symptoms during pandemic COVID-19. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and perceptions of mental health needs among nursing students in Indonesia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design, and the population was nursing students in Indonesia in various levels of education and age ≥ 18 years old. The sampling technique used purposive sampling with a total of 619 respondents. An online survey was conducted using questionnaire. The data analysis used descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: The results showed that only a few respondents had an adequate level of knowledge regarding the signs and symptoms (0.2%) and transmission of COVID-19 (13.6%). However, students had moderate knowledge about protecting against COVID-19 (60.3%). As many as 22.8% of students had a positive attitude toward COVID-19 and 94% of respondents did not experience anxiety. The majority of students had a perception that COVID-19 has an impact on their lives. The results also showed that there were significant differences in several demographic variables (gender, education, place of residence, institution) with the knowledge, attitudes, anxiety, and perceptions of students. Conclusion: The level of knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions among nursing students regarding COVID-19 were less or negative tendencies. At the same time, the nursing students did not experience clinically significant fear and anxiety. This requires government support in providing policies to educational institutions for improving students' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of COVID-19.

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