Medical and nursing students’ preference towards returning clinical setting during Covid-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional online survey in Nepal

Introduction: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has created dilemma among medical and nursing educators in Nepal for bringing students in clinical setting for continuing clinical education. The objective of this study was to assess undergraduate medical and nursing students’ preference for returning to clinical setting during COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal, and to explore factors associated with that preference. Methods: A cross-sectional electronic survey was carried out among 379 undergraduate medical and nursing students enrolled in different colleges in Nepal. The survey used semi-structured questionnaire in Google form to collect data. The link of the Google form was send to the potential participants through email and social media. Both descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean and SD) and inferential statistics (Chi-square test, independent t-test and binary logistic regression) were used to analyze data in SPSS vs20. Ethical approval was sought from Institutional Review Committee of National Medical College to carry out this study. Results: Around 2/5thof the students preferred not to return to clinical setting. Multivariable analysis depicted students preferring not to return with lower sense of professionalism, lower autonomous motivation and a higher perception of self-risk to COVID-19. Conclusions: The preference to return to clinical settings among students is dependent of several factors including but not limiting to professionalism during pandemic. Medical and nursing educators need to consider these factors while making decision and preparing these prospective healthcare professionals to serve wisely during pandemic in resource poor settings like in Nepal.