KNOWLEDGE OF AIDS AND ATTITUDES ABOUT NURSING CARE OF AIDS PATIENTS IN ASSOCIATE DEGREE NURSING STUDENTS.
Contributors: University of Houston.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 120
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: Nurses are the health care professionals who provide bedside care to AIDS patients. Nurses should receive education that prepares them to provide competent care to these patients who usually have complex medical and psychological needs. Nurse educators need to evaluate student nurses' knowledge and attitude toward AIDS and AIDS patients. The purpose of this descriptive study was to investigate the relationship between knowledge and attitude about AIDS of student nurses. Previous research has suggested that AIDS-related anxiety may influence health-care behaviors and the quality of care patients receive. Other research strongly suggests that education has an important role in changing attitudes about AIDS in a direction that fosters better care for AIDS patients. The theoretical framework was developed using Rosenberg and Abelson's affective-cognitive consistency theory. The cognitive elements of actors, means, and ends provide the framework for this study. These cognitive elements are nursing students, AIDS education, and attitudes of the student nurses. Additionally, the theory developed cognitive units, linking education with positive attitudes and lack of knowledge with negative attitudes.

The AIDS Knowledge/Attitude Survey was developed by the investigator and the validity and reliability was validated by a panel of experts and the use of Cronbach alpha. The subjects came from four associate degree nursing programs located near a major metropolitan area with a high incidence of AIDS. A total of 122 student nurses participated in the research. The results of the AIDS Knowledge/Attitude Survey showed a weak positive relationship between knowledge and attitude. Fewer than 3/4 of the students achieved 75% on the knowledge section. In the attitude section, the majority of the students (67%) demonstrated a positive response in caring for AIDS patients. These findings should be relevant to nursing programs teaching students to care for AIDS patients. Assisting students to develop a value system supportive of caring for AIDS patients is potentially as important as supplying factual information. Classroom discussion alone is not enough to affect attitudes; experiential involvement is vital to promote learning in the affective domain. The majority of the students had "cared" for patients with AIDS. This study indicated a possible link between having cared for an AIDS patient and a positive attitude about AIDS.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-07, Section: B, page: 3402.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON, 1992.

School code: 0087.