STUDY ON KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF INTERNAL AND INFECTIOUS WARDS NURSES TOWARD AIDS

Nurse's knowledge and attitudes related to AIDS is important as it affects their
behavior, willingness to care, and quality of care. The aim of this study was to determine knowledge
and attitudes of internal and infectious wards nurses toward AIDS in Tehran, 2009.
Materials & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 180 internal and
infectious wards nurses from four selected hospitals of Tehran and Shahid Beheshti University of
Medical Sciences. Through census sampling method and 165 nurses participated in this study. Data
were collected through self administered questionnaire. The instruments used included demographic
data form, AIDS knowledge questionnaire, and AIDS attitude scale. The data were analyzed by SPSS
software and using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA and coefficient Pearson correlation.
Results: 57.6% nurses had moderate knowledge on AIDS. A significant statistical different was found
between the mean score of knowledge related to AIDS with education level (P=0.009), capacity
(P=0.048), shift work (0.005), and received HIV related training (0.042). The mean score of attitudes
toward AIDS was 0.79±0.86 and nurses had low empathy attitude. There were not statistically
significant association between knowledge related to AIDS with attitudes toward AIDS (P=0.598).
Conclusion: Regarding the results of this study seems that nurses need more HIV related training to
improve their knowledge and attitudes related to AIDS, AIDS-related stigma, ethical issues related to
HIV treatment in order to improve quality of AIDS patients care