Nurses’ willingness to care for patients infected with HIV or Hepatitis B / C in Vietnam

Abstract

ObjectivesThis study examined the factors associated with nurses’ willingness to care for patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or hepatitis B or C virus (HBV/HCV) in Vietnam.MethodsA cross-section of 400 Vietnamese nurses from two hospitals were selected using stratified random sampling, to whom a self-administered questionnaire was administered which included demographic items, previous experience with patients infected with HIV or HBV/HCV, and their attitudes toward these patients. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression.ResultsThe lifetime prevalence of needlestick or sharps injury whilst caring for a patient infected with HIV or HBV/HCV was 9 and 15.8%, respectively. The majority of participants expressed a willingness to care for patients infected with HIV (55.8%) or HBV/HCV (73.3%). Willingness to care for HIV-infected patients was positively associated with being 40–49 years of age and confidence in protecting themselves against infection. Regarding HBV/HCV infection, willingness to care was positively associated with individual confidence in protecting themselves against infection.ConclusionsThis study revealed that Vietnamese nurses were somewhat willing to care for patients infected with HIV or HBV/HCV, and this was associated with individual confidence in protecting themselves against infection and with negative attitudes towards HIV and HBV/HCV. Establishing a positive safety culture and providing appropriate professional education to help reduce the stigma towards infected patients offers an effective way forwards to improve quality of care in Vietnam, as elsewhere.

A blind spot? Confronting the stigma of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection - A systematic review

“…Asia and North America were best represented by the literature, in contrast to Africa from where we identified only two published studies, both set in Ghana ( Table 1 ). Among the 19 studies that used a quantitative study design, eight used a convenient sampling method which introduces selection bias 33 – 35 , 37 , 45 , 51 , 59 , 62 , two studies did not describe a sampling method 39 , 58 , five used a random sampling method 36 , 46 , 47 , 50 , 61 , three studies included all intended participants 44 , 49 , 52 , and only one study used a sample size based on pre-study consideration 47 . A participant response rate was presented in 10 studies; in nine of these the response rate was >60% 35 – 37 , 45 , 49 – 52 , 59 and one had a 30% response rate 44 .…”

Attitude, Practice and Associated Factors Towards Patients With Hepatitis B and C Viruses Among Nurses Working in Governmental Hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2019. 

“…Additionally, 65.8% in the Vietnam and 79% of participants in the Japan studies don't care of acquiring these infections from infected collogues. Again in the Japan study 88% of the participants disagree and strongly disagreed to avoid infected colleagues (13,18,22). This discrepancy may be due to lack of personal protective equipment and nurse's attitude for colleagues may be different for other patients.…”

“…However, the nding in this study is much lower than the study from Vietnam that reported 73.3% of the respondents to be willing to care for hepatitis B/C patients. Besides, in a study from Japan only 18% of nurses agreed or somewhat agreed as they were unwilling to care for these patients (13,18). The possible reason for this difference may be lack of preventive and therapeutic facilities in hospitals that imposes fear of acquiring these infections.…”

“…However, relatively higher proportion (70%) reported in the Vietnam study. This discrepancy may be resulted from the difference in socio-demographic characteristics of respondents (13,18).…”

“…Data was collected from the study participants using semi structured self-administered questionnaire. The tool was adapted from published articles (14,(16)(17)(18). Internal consistency of the tool was checked by Cronbach's alpha which was 0.75 for attitude items, 0.73 for practice items and 0.79 for both.…”