576 Rawal Medical Journal: Vol. 48, No. 3, Jul-Sep 2023 Original Article Knowledge of new nursing college alumni concerning complications of COVID-19 Faisal Younus Sameen, 1 Qassim Jawell Odah Abed 2 1 Departments of Adult Nursing, University of Kirkuk College of Nursing and 2 Al-Kut Technical Institute, Middle Technical University, Iraq Objective: To measure knowledge of new nursing college alumni concerning complications of COVID- 19 and to determine the relationship between demographic characteristics and their knowledge. Methodology: In this purposive survey, we included 35 new nursing alumina and collected demographic data and knowledge regarding complications of COVID-19. The study was carried out from July 1 to October 1, 2022 and included all sections units of General Kirkuk Hospital, Kirkuk City. We used a questionnaire with 20 items. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistical approaches. Results: The recent nursing college graduates had little understanding about COVID-19 problems. Conclusions: The current investigation showed that the graduates of new nursing colleges had little understanding of COVID-19 complications. Keywords: Collegiate nurses, knowledge, complications, COVID-19. INTRODUCTION Covid-19 is regarded as a high-risk illness due to the fact that it may spread from person to person both directly and indirectly. 1 It spreads through a variety of routes, including saliva and sneezes and coughs that send sprays from the infected person’s mouth indirect contact between uninfected and infected people. 2 The symptoms differ from person to person, depending on the nature of the body’s immunity. Some are severely impacted, resulting in lethal consequences, whereas others have no clinical signs. 3,4 The best way to control the spread of infection is to understand the disease and the virus’s route of transmission. To stop the transmission, social distance, proper mask and washing hands have been employed. Vaccination has been widely recommended. 5-8 Covid-19 and its variants may result in decreased lung function and respiratory failure. 9-11 The aim of this study was to measure knowledge of new nursing college alumni concerning complications of COVID-19 and to determine the relationship between demographic characteristics and their knowledge. METHODOLOGY This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in general Kirkuk HospitalfromJuly 1, to October 1, 2022. It included 35 new nursing alumina working in all sections units of General Kirkuk Hospital. The instrument consisted two parts: Part І: socio demographic characteristic, which included 6 variables (age, gender, level of education, years of the service in the field of the nursing profession, and Part II consisting of 20items for assessing knowledge complications of COVID-19. Content validity of the questionnaire was determining through a panel of 11 experts. Reliability of questionnaire was determined through test re-test (r = 0.87) in a pilot study. Statistical Analysis: We used SPSS version 21, using inferential statistical analysis strategy (Correlation test). P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS We found that 24–29-year age made up the bulk of the age groups (85.7%) with 74.3% females. The majority participants (48.6%) were married. Table 1 shows knowledge of the new nursing college alumni knowledge regarding complications of COVID-19. Table 2 demonstrations up that there is important association between the age with gender (r = -.302*) and between marital status with period of working in hospital (r = .291*). Also shows significant relationship between the period of working in hospital with knowledge of COVID-19 complications (r = -.293*). There was no relationship between knowledge regarding complications of COVID-19 with other variables. DISCUSSION When asked if they had any outside jobs after working in hospitals, the majority (91.4%) said no, with the exception of 20.0% who worked largely in the intensive care unit. Majority (57.1%) had worked in hospitals for one year or longer. These results are similar to several other studies. 12,13