Knowledge and experience of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Tema, Ghana

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 is a pandemic caused by a novel human coronavirus previously known as 2019-nCov. Healthcare workers are essential in the response to and management of such infectious diseases. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Tema General Hospital, Ghana. Data was collected from healthcare workers using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was done for all socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. Level of knowledge about coronavirus disease and factors influencing participants’ willingness to work were summarized as frequencies, percentages and charts. Chi-square test was used to test for association between level of knowledge and all independent variables. Results: A total of 157 healthcare workers participated in this study. The news media (135, 85.99%) was the commonest source of information for participants. Almost half of participants (47.8%) had been tested for coronavirus disease, and 91.08% had sufficient knowledge about the disease. Occupation (p=0.047) was significantly associated with participants’ level of knowledge. A total of 46.49% disagreed with adequacy of personal protective equipment provided, with 70.06% admitting they have had to use their own personal protective equipment at work. A sense of duty (20, 31.8%) and motivation (14, 22.2%) positively influenced participants’ ability to work while challenges faced included fear of contracting and transmitting the virus (98.7%) and stigmatization (70.7%). Conclusions: The healthcare workers had sufficient knowledge about coronavirus disease. Insufficient personal protective equipment was evident during the pandemic. Measures must be established to ensure that barriers to work are eliminated while factors that enhance work output are encouraged.