Willingness of Nepalese medical and nursing students to volunteer during COVID-19 pandemic: A single-centered cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Medical students, being more familiar with medical situations, can play a vital role as volunteers during medical crises like mass casualty emergencies and epidemics. This study was conducted to know the willingness of medical and nursing students to volunteer during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical and nursing students of a medical college in Kathmandu. A proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used. A pretested, self-administered questionnaire was emailed to participants and the data were collected from 8th July to July 29, 2021 via the Google forms, extracted to the Google sheets, and then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16. RESULTS: Out of 288 randomly selected participants, a total of 261 valid responses were obtained, giving a response rate of 90.6%. The majority (n = 203, 77.8%) of the participants were willing to volunteer. The most preferred area of work during volunteering was clinical care of the COVID-19 patients (n = 74, 36.5%), followed by involvement in health education and awareness-raising activities (n = 63, 31%). Among those not willing to volunteer (n = 58, 22.2%), the most commonly reported reason was the lack of adequate training and skills (n = 23, 40%). CONCLUSION: Since the majority of medical and nursing students were willing to volunteer during the times of COVID-19, they can be of great help as a human resource in case of shortage of healthcare professionals. As lack of training and adequate skills was the main reason for those not willing to volunteer, we recommend the provision of adequate training and skills before deploying students as volunteers during health crises like COVID-19.

Sleep quality among undergraduate students of a medical college in Nepal during COVID-19 pandemic: an online survey.

Background Good sleep quality is associated with a diverse range of positive outcomes such as better health, less daytime sleepiness, well-being and proper psychological functioning. Sleep deprivation or poor sleep quality leads to many metabolic, endocrine, and immune changes. Many studies have shown changes in sleep schedule along with worsening of sleep quality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted among students of a medical college in Kathmandu, Nepal from January 13, 2021 to February 15, 2021. A stratified random sampling technique was used. Data were collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Questionnaires that were completely filled were included and analyzed using STATA vs. 15. Results 168(n=190) medical students filled out the questionnaires with a response rate of 88.42%. Around 30% (n=51) of respondents had poor sleep quality (PSQI total score of > 5) with an average PSQI score of 4.24±2.19. Unadjusted logistic regression analysis showed significantly higher odds of poor sleep quality among females (OR, 2.25; CI, 1.14-4.43) compared with male and the relation persists even after adjusting with age and year in medical school (aOR, 2.81; CI, 1.35-5.86).  Adjusting with age and gender, 4 th-year MBBS students had 82% lesser odds of having poor sleep quality compared to 2 nd-year MBBS students (aOR, 0.18; CI, 0.04-0.76). Our study is suggestive of poor sleep quality common among medical students. Conclusions More than a quarter of medical students have a poor sleep quality as per our study. So, education and awareness should be raised among medical students regarding the detrimental effects of poor quality sleep on daily activities, physical and mental well-being, and the overall quality of life.