Nursing Students' Knowledge and Opinions Concerning AIDS

Abstract

The need to provide relevant information to dispel the myths and prejudice about AIDS and AIDS patients, has direct implications for nurses. It is widely considered that AIDS will continue to develop as an increasingly serious public health problem during the next five years, given the growing number of cases reported and the long incubation period of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (Morgan & Curran, 1986). Nurses will need accurate epidemiological and scientific knowledge about AIDS to fulfil both their educational and health care role (Schietinger, 1986). Appropriate attitudes towards the AIDS patient and the family depend upon accurate knowledge, and are the foundation for the provision of holistic care so that physical needs may be met and the psychological distress experienced by this client group might be alleviated (Coates, Temoshole & Mandel, 1984). Literature Review Much of the published research concerns the nature and transmission of AIDS (Bennett, 1986; Henderson, 1984; Krim, 1986). Bertolini reported in February, 1986, that approximately 500 cases of AIDS were recorded in Canada. "Of these cases 76.4% were homosexual males, 2.5% were heterosexual partners of high risk individuals, 1.3% were hemophiliacs, and 0.3% were intravenous drug users. The remaining 19.5% included children who acquired the disease from their mothers before birth and a group classified as unknown" (p. 2).By February, 1987, the number of reported cases had risen to approximately 950.