Objective: Novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) has not only brought the risk of morbidity and mortality but also psychological burden on individuals. The objective of the study was to assess psychological effect of COVID- 19 among nursing students of Patan Academy of Health Sciences School of Nursing and midwifery, Lalitpur, Nepal. Method: A cross sectional analytical study was conducted in July 2020 among 382 nursing students. Stress was assessed by Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) 10 item scale, Anxiety level was assessed using Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale and depression with Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) 9 item scale. The total enumerative sampling technique was used for sample selection and data was collected by an online survey. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze data. Result: The findings of the study revealed that that 278 (72.8%) nursing students had moderate level and 11 (2.9%) had high perceived stress, 202 (52.9%) had mild anxiety and only 8 (2.1%) had severe anxiety. Regarding depression, 220 (57.6%) did not have depressive symptoms and only 4 (1%) had severe depression. Significant mean difference in stress, anxiety and depression between PCL, BSc and BNS were found with p value <0.05 which indicated that PCL students were more likely to be stressed, anxious and depressed than B.Sc and BNS due to COVID 19. Conclusion: The survey revealed that the majority of nursing students had moderate level of stress, mild anxiety and no depressive symptoms during COVID 19. In order to improve the psychological status of students, the government and organizations should collaborate with educational institutions to ensure psychological support to the students. Key words: Anxiety, COVID 19, depression, nursing students, psychological effect, stress, students.

Background: Unsafe abortion is one of the health issue of the reproductive age women. In spite of abortion legalization, woman’s access to safe abortion is based on the knowledge related to safe abortion. Knowledge is essential part which equip women to get services and prevent from complications of unsafe abortion. Materials and methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted with the objective to identify the knowledge and attitude on safe abortion among bachelor level student. Non probability total enumerative sampling technique was used to select the sample. Total of 310 respondents were included in the study. The structured pretested questionnaire was used to collect data. Pearson chi-square was used to find out the association between demographic variables and knowledge on safe abortion. Result: The result of the study showed that among the respondents majority 247(79.7%) were ≥20 years of age with mean age 21.4 years with SD 1.9. More than half 173(55.8) of respondents were female. Majority 193(62.3%) of the respondents had fair knowledge and nearly half of the respondents 154(49.7%) had positive attitude regarding safe abortion. Respondents’ knowledge on safe abortion were not significantly associated with their age, gender, marital status, ethnicity, type of family, area of residence and living arrangement. Conclusion: Despite having fair level of knowledge among majority of respondents, it is seen that half of the respondents had negative attitude towards safe abortion. This shows that there is a need for educational intervention among undergraduate students in order to change their attitude. Key words: Attitude, Knowledge, Safe Abortion, Undergraduate Students.

Introduction: Maternal health is essential to ensure the good health of the mother as well as children and by extension, the whole family. Despite the various measures launched by the government to enhance maternal care services, the utilization remains at large. Method: A community-based face to face interview was conducted using a pre-tested structured survey questionnaire to find out maternal health service utilization among mothers in Mahankal Rural Municipality, Lalitpur, Nepal, during Feb-Jun 2020. A probability simple random sampling was used to select mothers having children aged between 1 to 3 y. A score of  ≥mean was considered good utilization and below it a poor utilization. The study was approved by the ethical committee. The SPSS 16 was used for descriptive (frequency, mean) and comparative analysis by chi square between demographics and health service utilization. Result: There were a total of 178 mothers surveyed, the mean age of 25.9±4.4 y, 77(43.3%) had completed elementary school, and 147(82.6%) were farmers. Good utilization of maternal health service 98(55%) and poor utilization 80(45%). The majority 153(86%) had ≥4 Antenatal checkups, 55(30.9%) had delivered at home despite the government incentive for institutional delivery, 105(59%) had postnatal visits ≥1, and 18(10%) had 3 postnatal visits.   Conclusion: The study revealed that slightly more than half (55%) of mothers surveyed had good utilization of maternal health services.

Introduction: Emergency contraception (EC) is used to prevent pregnancy in the first 5 days after sexual intercourse, mainly unprotected intercourse, contraceptive failure, rape or coerced unprotected sex. This study aims to identify the knowledge and attitude on EC and associated factors among adolescent students. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted to find out knowledge and attitude on EC among adolescent students of both sex, grade 11 and 12 at Advanced Academy, a private school in Kumaripati, Lalitpur, Nepal, during 19 January 2018 to 13 February 2018. Non probability convenience sampling and self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Association of demographic variables with knowledge and attitude of EC and further correlation between knowledge and attitude were analysed. The SPSS 16 was used for data analysis. Result: Out of 343 students, 211 (61.5%) had fair knowledge of EC, 125 (36.5%) poor and 7 (2%) good knowledge. Favourable attitude towards EC was found in 285 (83.1%) and unfavourable in 58 (16.9%). The mean age was 17.33 ± 0.98 years, 206 (60.1%) in 15-17 year age group (middle adolescence), female 143 (41.7%), and 160 (46.7%) from within Kathmandu valley. There was significant positive co-relation between knowledge and attitude and no significant association between demographic variables with knowledge and attitude. Conclusion: Majority of adolescence students 15-21 years of age had favourable attitude but less knowledgeable in regard to emergency contraception.