Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Care Preparedness Among Nursing Interns in Egypt: A Cross-Sectional Comparative...

Background/Objectives: Effective chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) management requires nurses who can support education, treatment adherence, smoking cessation, symptom monitoring, and pulmonary rehabilitation. This study described COPD care preparedness among nursing interns, compared independent early- and late-phase groups, and characterized selected educational and social context variables. Methods: A cross-sectional comparative study was conducted at two Egyptian nursing institutions between October 2024 and February 2025. Independent and markedly unequal early-phase (n = 114) and late-phase (n = 687) samples were recruited (N = 801). COPD preparedness was operationalized using a preliminary eight-item knowledge-and-perceptions screening measure. Raw-score bands (<24, 24-31, and 32-40) were used only as descriptive analytic groupings. Mann-Whitney U testing compared phases, and the effect size was calculated as r = |Z|/sqrt(N). Results: The upper, middle, and lower raw-score bands contained 52.9%, 37.3%, and 9.7% of participants, respectively. Late-phase interns had higher mean ranks than early-phase interns (412.60 vs. 311.07; Z = 3.498; p < 0.001), with a small effect size (r = 0.12). Forty-three participants (5.4%) reported current or prior tobacco use; because current and former use were combined, this value is not a current-smoking prevalence estimate, and dependence scores from that mixed subgroup were not interpreted. Mass media was the primary reported health information source for 71.4%, and 85.4% reported moderate or high interest in respiratory continuing professional development. Conclusions: A small phase-associated difference was observed in a preliminary COPD screening score, but the cross-sectional design cannot establish within-person learning gains. The measure does not assess clinical competence or patient outcomes, and the findings should be generalized only to interns similar to those sampled from the two participating Egyptian institutions. Longitudinal and psychometric validation studies are required.