Background Online learning can play a vital role in the process of teaching and learning during Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. However, learners’ satisfaction is extremely important in effective implementation of the online learning, especially at institutions where it is newly adopted. Objective To assess satisfaction towards online learning and its predictors among students at Chitwan Medical College, Bharatpur. Method A web-based cross-sectional survey was undertaken among 434 undergraduate and postgraduate students from various academic programs who had participated in the online classes started during this COVID-19 pandemic. A structured questionnaire consisting of 31 items (5-point Likert scale) covering four major student satisfaction domains (learners’ dimensions, technological characteristics, instructors’ characteristics and course management and coordination) was distributed to the students using Google Form. Result More than half (53.5%) of the students were satisfied with the online learning, while 29.7% gave neutral views. Bivariate analyses found that all four domains scores were positively correlated with each other as well as with the students’ overall satisfaction towards learning. In multivariate analysis, female gender [aOR: 2.72, p = 0.013], WiFi as internet modality for learning [aOR: 3.36, p = 0.001) and learners’ dimension score [aOR: 1.27, p<0.001] were the significant predictors of students’ satisfaction. Conclusion Although recently adopted, the satisfaction of the students towards online classes appears good, and prioritizing the identified predictors and working on the weak links could assist in enhancing students’ satisfaction and better outcomes.

Online learning has been in a rising trend across the world due to increasing technology in education. Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic enforced all the academic institutions to start online classes for the students. But the students’ readiness for the adoption of online learning remains unknown. Hence, this study aimed to assess the readiness of online classes among students. Descriptive cross-sectional web based survey was carried out among 704 students who have enrolled in various streams of Bachelor level programs in Chitwan Medical College. The finding of this study revealed that 87.1% of students from various faculties were ready for online classes during COVID pandemic and 88.8% had internet facility in their home setting. Furthermore, this study found that readiness for online classes was significantly higher among female than male students (89.7% vs.83.5%, p=0.016) and students who had internet accessibility in their residence than those who did not have it (83.8% vs.34.2%, p=<0.001) but there was no significant association between readiness for online classes with academic programs (p=0.062) and years (p=0.905). Therefore, online learning can be considered as a viable alternative method in the academic institutions for the students. Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; online classes; readiness; students.

Introduction: The lack of knowledge among health care professionals leads to diagnostic delays,further spread of disease, and poor infection control practices. Health care professionals must beupdated knowledge regarding COVID-19. This study aims to assess the knowledge of health careprofessionals regarding COVID -19 in a medical college in Chitwan. Methods: A Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Study was carried out in a tertiary care hospitalin Chitwan, Nepal from April 22, 2020, to April 28, 2020. The institutional review committee ofChitwan Medical College provided ethical approval for the research. Data were collected with anonline questionnaire using Google forms. The questionnaire was sent out to 724 potential responderswho included health care professionals from medical, dental, nursing, and allied health sciences inChitwan Medical College. A convenient sampling method was used for data collection. Data wereanalyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences. Results: A total of 181 respondents completed the web survey. Overall, a total of 35 (19.3%)respondents were found to have “Good” knowledge; 105 (58%) respondents had “Fair” knowledgeand 41 (22.7%) respondents had “Poor” knowledge regarding various aspects of COVID-19. Therewas no significant difference among the various health professional groups in their knowledgescores under the four knowledge domains. Conclusions: The study of knowledge of health care professionals could act as a reference for theprevention and better management of COVID-19. This study shows that there is a need to implementperiodic educational interventions and training programs on infection control practices for COVID-19across all healthcare professions.

The COVID-19 pandemic is unfolding at an unprecedented pace. The unprecedented threat providesan opportunity to emerge with robust health systems. Nepal has implemented several containmentmeasures such as Rapid Response Team formulation; testing; isolation; quarantine; contact tracing;surveillance, establishment of COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre and designation of dedicatedhospitals to gear up for the pandemic. The national public health emergency managementmechanisms need further strengthening with the proactive engagement of relevant ministries; weneed a strong, real-time national surveillance system and capacity building of a critical mass of healthcare workers; there is a need to further assess infection prevention and control capacity; expandthe network of virus diagnostic laboratories in the private sector with adequate surge capacity;implement participatory community engagement interventions and plan for a phased lockdownexit strategy enabling sustainable suppression of transmission at low-level and enabling in resumingsome parts of economic and social life.

Background: Healthcare workers like nurses’ are the primary group who come in contact with patients, an important source of exposure to infected cases in healthcare settings. Co­rona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought all the health care professionals including nurses to work as a frontline member which may bring threat to mental wellbeing. The nurse’s psychological impact including stress and anxiety remains unknown. Hence, this study aimed to assess the stress and anxiety regarding COVID-19 among nurses working at Chitwan medical college and teaching hospital. Methods: A Descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out among nurses working in Chitwan Medical College and teaching hospital. A total of 181 Nurses were selected through non probability consecutive sampling from various wards of Chitwan Medical College and Teaching Hospital. Data was collected using structured questionnaire. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 20 for window using descriptive statistics. Results: The findings of the study revealed that out of 181 nurses 54.7% nurses reported moder­ate and 37.6% reported high level of stress and 10.5% of nurses reported mild to moderate level of anxiety. Conclusions: Considerable proportion of nurses working in different wards of hospital appear to experience some degrees of stress and anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, it is essential that health organization takes measures to improve nurses’ mental health by intervening stress management programme to ensure positive attitude and maintain mental well-being.