Risk-benefit perception and willingness to care for patients with Ebola virus disease among clinical students at Mulago National Referral Hospital

Abstract

BACKGROUND The study was about risk benefit perception and willingness to care for patients with Ebola virus among clinical students at Mulago National referral Hospital. Clinical students are the future qualified healthcare workers; it is of great importance to ascertain their willingness to care for patients when in the face of an outbreak. There’s paucity of knowledge of clinical students’ willingness to care for Ebola patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess the risk perception and willingness to care for patients with Ebola virus disease among clinical students at Mulago National Referral. METHODS The researcher employed an exploratory-descriptive qualitative study approach. The purpose of the EDQ was to investigate and describe participants' experiences in relation to the phenomena being studied. The study was conducted in Mulago national referral hospital. Mulago National Referral hospital is a component of Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching facility of Makerere University College of Health Sciences. The analysis sheets were kept under close supervision and protection with the principal investigator to ensure safety and confidentiality of the study participants’ information. Recorded interviews were analyzed using latent content analysis which enabled in-depth interpretation of underlying meanings to the text and condensing data without losing its quality. The audio readings were transcribed in the same exact words that were used originally and then de-identified. RESULTS The study found out that participants played a role in modifying risk perception in health workers. Feelings of risk were amplified by risk perceptions of participants were mainly informed by media reports, also hampered willingness to participate in care for patients with Ebola. The study further revealed that benefits are the motivating factors to willingness. CONCLUSION: From the study risk-benefit perception and willingness to care for Ebola patients among clinical students at Mulago National referral hospital, it was established that willingness, risk perception and benefits are closely intertwined in the way that without any, the rest are compromised.