Purpose: This study aimed to determine how the knowledge and health beliefs of undergraduate nursing students affected their infection prevention behavior of COVID-19. Methods: The study was conducted as a descriptive survey. A total of 188 undergraduate nursing students from two universities in South Korea participated in this study. Data was collected from June 2020 to August 2020. Factors influencing infection prevention behavior were identified through multiple regression analysis.
Results: The participants’ mean knowledge level of COVID-19 was 84.05±11.78 out of 100. The average health belief score was 2.80±.32 points out of 5. COVID-19-related preventive health behaviors correlated with searching for COVID-19 information (r = .22, p < .01), perceived severity, perceived benefits severity (r = .24, p < .01), cues to action (r = .30, p < .01), knowledge (r = .27, p < .01) and perceived barriers (r = -.19, p < .05). Factors that significantly affected COVID-19-related preventive health behavior were the participants’ year of study, their experience in COVID-19 prevention education, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and cues to action.