Knowledge and Attitudes of Nursing Students and Faculty About AIDS

Abstract

In Canada, as of February 1988, there were 1517 cases of AIDS reported, the first case in 1982. There have been 821 AIDS-related deaths, and an estimated 50,000 to 100,000 Canadians are infected with AIDS (McLeod & Silverthorn, 1988). Eighty-two percent of these cases are male homosexuals and bisexuals (Beaufoy, Goldstone & Riddell, 1988). Nursing students, along with other health care workers, have been found to be fearful of AIDS patients and unwilling to care for them (Barrick, 1988; Lester & Beard, 1988; Wiley, Heath & Acklin, 1988). Some studies have shown that greater knowledge about AIDS is related to more positive attitudes among health care providers toward AIDS patients (Lawrence & Lawrence, 1989; Turner, Gauthier, Ellison & Greiner, 1988; Wertz, Sorenson, Liebling, Kessler & Heeren, 1987). Nursing students, as future health care providers for the growing number of AIDS patients, should be provided with accurate information about AIDS, as well as be taught procedures to avoid transmission of AIDS. Strategies must also be available for students to explore their feelings about caring for patients with AIDS, and to develop a value system that recognizes the inherent worth and dignity of the individual.