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ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine if increased knowledge changes nursing students' attitudes toward individuals with AIDS. A pretest/post-test design was used to administer a questionnaire, developed and validated in the United States, and adapted for use in this study. Subjects were total population of first to fourth year baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students attending a 1-day AIDS workshop. Questions dealt with knowledge and fears concerning AIDS and caring for AIDS patients, and attitudes toward homosexuality and toward the terminally ill. With the level of significance set at (p<.05), post-test results indicated that all groups of students displayed a knowledge gain (p =.000) and a more positive attitude toward caring for AIDS patients (p = .000), particularly by first and third year students (p =.001). Although positive, younger students and students who had cared for AIDS patients were less positive. In this study, AIDS education had a positive influence on attitudes of nursing students. This finding supports the use of education to foster positive attitudes toward AIDS and individuals with AIDS.
Introduction
A major challenge facing health-care workers today is that of coping with the increasing number of individuals who have AIDS or who are HTV positive. The majority of illnesses have been around for a long time, and as a result we know how to treat and cure most of them. This- is not true of AIDS. Most illnesses are not invariably fatal. This is not true of AIDS. Most illnesses have a declining or at least a stable incidence. This is not true of AIDS. Most illnesses were not initially associated with a lifestyle that some considered deviant. This is not true of ATDS. Mention of AIDS engenders a variety of responses, usually including fear, and often based on lack of knowledge or on negative attitudes toward homosexuals, intravenous drug users, or death itself.
Nurses, as well as other health-care workers, must be knowledgeable about AIDS and the care of individuals with AIDS. It is of the utmost importance that they be educationally prepared to give safe, competent, and compassionate care. They must prevent the spread of the disease to themselves and protect individuals with AIDS from exposure to opportunistic infections. Knowledge of the syndrome, its mode of transmission, and...