| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 2
| Issue : 1 | Page : 22-27 |
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Under graduate nursing students' knowledge and attitude toward people living with human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
Mythili Dharmalingam1, Vijayalakshmi Poreddi1, Sailaxmi Gandhi2, Rama Chandra1
1 College of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Institute of National Importance), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
2 Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Institute of National Importance), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Correspondence Address:
Vijayalakshmi Poreddi
College of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, (INI), Bengaluru, Karnataka
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2349-4220.159124
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Background: Human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) has become one of the significant public health problems in the world. Research regarding HIV/AIDS among nursing professionals is limited from India. Aim: The aim was to assess nursing student's knowledge and attitude toward people living with HIV/AIDS. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was adopted among conveniently selected under graduate nursing students (n = 172) using self-reported questionnaires. Results: The overall mean knowledge (38.05 ± 4.91) and attitude score (51.26 ± 6.2) indicate that majority of the students have good knowledge (77.6%) and moderately favorable attitudes (67.4%) toward HIV/AIDS patients. However, statistically significant differences were observed between age (P < 0.001, P < 0.019) education (P < 0.34, P < 0.01) and experience in taking care of HIV/AIDS patients (P < 0.01, P< 0.01) with knowledge and attitude. Conclusion: Though, a majority of nursing students had adequate knowledge, few students hold discriminatory attitudes toward people with HIV/AIDS. These findings indicate that there is an urgent need to improve the level of knowledge and attitudes among nursing students toward HIV/AIDS as they have a key role in prevention, care and treatment in their future career as nurses. |
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