ABSTRACT
Nursing students possess valuable public health knowledge to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection. They can provide health education to the public with reliable information and adequate resources. To better understand the role nursing students can take in prevention efforts, the purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the association between COVID-19 health knowledge, self-efficacy, and preventive behavior among undergraduate nursing students. The health belief model was the theoretical framework that guided this study. The primary research questions assessed (a) if there was a statistically significant association between COVID-19 health knowledge and preventive behavior among nursing students, and (b) if there was a statistically significant association between self-efficacy and preventive behavior among nursing students. Using 283 surveys taken by nursing students from 11 CUNY colleges, a series of statistical analyses were conducted including a Shapiro-Wilk test, Spearman's correlation analysis, and linear regression. Spearman's correlation analyses were conducted to determine whether there was an association between COVID-19 health knowledge, self-efficacy, and preventive behavior variables. Key findings revealed that both COVID-19 knowledge and self-efficacy were positively correlated with behavioral intention, which was further confirmed by linear regression analyses. This study can positively impact social change by leading to the implementation of a more focused and cohesive information-sharing system which prioritizes best practices in preventive behaviors among health care workers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)