Medical laboratory staff satisfaction and their perspective on the role of health institutions to combat COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the facilities and challenges encountered in the clinical laboratories, satisfaction of the medical laboratory staff (MLS) toward their profession and their views on the role of related health institutions during the first wave of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Nepal. METHODS: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted among registered MLS in Nepal. Data were collected using a structured self-reported questionnaire on the Google Docs platform. RESULTS: A total of 301 respondents were enrolled in the study; of which 180 were male and 121 were female. Of the 301 respondents, a lack of infrastructure was reported by 241 (80.1%), a lack of skill development training by 204 (67.8%), limited availability of diagnostics kits by 151 (50.2%), overburdened by the workload by 142 (47.2%) and difficulty in sample management by 129 (42.9%). A total of 244 of 301 respondents (81.1%) believed that stakeholder institutions should collaborate with the government during the pandemic. The level of satisfaction during the pandemic (130 of 301; 43.19%) was found to have decreased compared with before the pandemic (203 of 301; 67.4%). CONCLUSION: MLS were not fully satisfied with the available resources during the pandemic.

Knowledge, practice and psychological symptoms among medical laboratory staff during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal: An online based survey.

INTRODUCTION: Despite several attempts to control COVID-19, there was a continuous rise in the number of cases, and this has left questions unanswered on the availability of health resources in Nepal. Here, we tried to assess the level of knowledge, practice and psychological symptoms among medical laboratory staff. METHODS: An online survey was conducted in February 2021. A total of 301 completely filled responses were used to assess knowledge, practice and psychological distress. R-language software was used for data analysis and p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Of the total 301 respondents, 180 (59.8%) were male and 121 (40.2%) were female. The average score of knowledge obtained in this study was 32.4 ± 5.7 on a 56-point scale. Knowledge level was significantly different among age-groups (p-value - 0.034). The average practice score obtained was 2.25 ± 0.91 on a 4-point scale. More than one psychological distress symptom was observed in nearly half (41.5%) of the participants. CONCLUSION: We conclude that medical laboratory staff in Nepal has satisfactory levels of knowledge and practice and, larger number of them has psychological distress. The study recommends further improvement in an effective information flow system, regular training, social security and psychological support.

Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of the First Wave From Nepal.

Unprecedented and unforeseen highly infectious Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has become a significant public health concern for most of the countries worldwide, including Nepal, and it is spreading rapidly. Undoubtedly, every nation has taken maximum initiative measures to break the transmission chain of the virus. This review presents a retrospective analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, analyzing the actions taken by the Government of Nepal (GoN) to inform future decisions. Data used in this article were extracted from relevant reports and websites of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) of Nepal and the WHO. As of January 22, 2021, the highest numbers of cases were reported in the megacity of the hilly region, Kathmandu district (population = 1,744,240), and Bagmati province. The cured and death rates of the disease among the tested population are ~98.00 and ~0.74%, respectively. Higher numbers of infected cases were observed in the age group 21-30, with an overall male to female death ratio of 2.33. With suggestions and recommendations from high-level coordination committees and experts, GoN has enacted several measures: promoting universal personal protection, physical distancing, localized lockdowns, travel restrictions, isolation, and selective quarantine. In addition, GoN formulated and distributed several guidelines/protocols for managing COVID-19 patients and vaccination programs. Despite robust preventive efforts by GoN, pandemic scenario in Nepal is, yet, to be controlled completely. This review could be helpful for the current and future effective outbreak preparedness, responses, and management of the pandemic situations and prepare necessary strategies, especially in countries with similar socio-cultural and economic status.