Attitude of Nurses Towards Hiv/Aids Patient

Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology Vol. 3(4), pp. 144-154, April 2011 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/jphe ISSN 2141-2316 ©2011 Academic Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Nurses’ knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS: Effects of a health education intervention on two nursing groups in Cairo University, Egypt
Eman Taher and Rehab Abdelhai*
Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt.
Accepted 3 April, 2011

Information education and communication (IEC) programs are the most effective available approaches for combating the HIV pandemic especially among nurses. The aim of this study is to assess knowledge, perceptions and attitudes towards HIV/AIDS before and after an IEC intervention program. The study used a prospective interventional design that was conducted on two different nursing groups: post-graduate nursing staff (67 nurses) and undergraduate nursing students (73 students). A significant improvement in the general knowledge and perceptions score was observed (from 7.29 ± 1.2 to 8.01 ± 1.5 with P <0.001). The intervention also succeeded to improve the mode of transmission knowledge score significantly from 6.83 ± 0.9 to 7.21 ± 0.8 (P <0.001). Furthermore, the intervention significantly improved the prevention knowledge score. The main source of information was television (66.7%). Although favorable attitudes increased after the intervention it did not reach the desired level. A planned HIV/AIDS education program significantly improved the HIV/AIDS knowledge, and to a lesser extent the perceptions and attitudes toward patients with HIV/AIDS. Further structured education should be conducted emphasising the role of mass media. Key words: HIV/AIDS, knowledge, perceptions and attitudes, health education intervention. INTRODUCTION Since its emergence in 1981, the HIV pandemic has become one of the most serious infectious disease challenges to public health. Entering its’ third decade,

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