Knowledge of nursing students towards HIV/AIDS in Nepal

Abstract

AimsFirst case of Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in Nepal was reported in the year 1988.Nurses are an integral part of the healthcare system and should be knowledgeable in providing care to AIDS patients. This study assessed the knowledge of nursing students towards HIV/AIDS, and the association (if any) between the knowledge scores of the nursing students with their selected demographic variables. Materials and methodsA cross sectional study was conducted evaluating the nursing student knowledge using a self designed questionnaire. The correct answers were given a score of '1' and wrong answers were given a score of '0' (total possible maximum score '18'). ResultsAmong the total 165 nursing students, 121 of them filled the questionnaire (response rate of 73.33%) and all of them were females. The mean ± SD age of the respondents was 18.3 ±1.75 years. The median (IQR) of the overall total scores was 13.0 (11.5-15.0). There was an association between the knowledge scores of the respondents with 'age' (p=000), 'course of the study' (p=0.001). However, there was no statistically significant association between the knowledge scores with the 'year of study' of the respondents (p=0.109), 'mode of finance' (0.611) and 'native' of the students (0.173). ConclusionThe study suggested that nursing students have a poor overall knowledge on AIDS and especially areas such as post exposure prophylaxis.The findings also suggested the need for providing adequate knowledge to the students during their regular class room teaching and clinical postings.

Awareness about HIV and post exposure prophylaxis among students of a nursing college from central Karnataka: a cross sectional study

“…Around one third of study subjects were aware about most common mode of transmission, this was very less when compared with the other studies. 2,3,10 Awareness was more than 90% in those studies regarding mode of transmission. This may be attributed to variations in the assessment tools in different studies.…”

“…This was similar to study done by Parajulee et al in Nepal. 10 This may be due to difference in entry criteria for the course and duration and syllabus of the course. One important finding of our study was awareness about vaccine against HIV infection, 52.8% of study subjects believed that there is a vaccine available to prevent transmission of HIV.…”

“…9 Among healthcare workers, nurses are usually at the forefront of patient care. 10 They come in close contact with the blood and body fluids more frequently than any other healthcare provider. Hence nurses can be considered as priority high risk group.…”

“…Studies conducted in different parts of India among nursing students reported poor level of knowledge and misconception regarding HIV/AIDS. 3,10 We have different nursing courses available like general nursing and Midwifery (GNM) and B.Sc. Nursing.…”

Knowledge and Attitude of Nursing Students about HIV/AIDS in Sohag, Egypt

“…(6) Several studies identified discriminating attitude of nurses towards HIV/ AIDS patients. (7)(8)(9) Stigmatizing attitudes from healthcare workers against such patients had been reported to be responsible for decreased medication adherence, decreased retention in care, and increased the number of new HIV infections. (10,11) The current study aimed at assessing the knowledge and attitude regarding HIV/AIDS among students of the Faculty of Nursing, Sohag University, Egypt.…”