Assessment of the Knowledge and Attitude of Staff Nurses on Prevention and Control of Transmission of HIV/AIDS in Selected Government Hospitals Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Background: HIV/AIDS has emerged as a major health problem and challenges to health services. It has grown to a size of pandemic affecting over 17 million persons all over the world. In parts of north east India, widespread drug users contributed to spread HIV infection, whilst a different pattern was seen in southern and western states with prevalence levels of 25 to 71% amongst sex workers in cities including New Delhi, Hyderabad, Vellore, and Mumbai. Objective: To assess the level of knowledge and attitude of staff nurses and find out the relationship between knowledge and attitude of staff nurses regarding HIV/AIDS. Methods and Material: A descriptive study was conducted in selected Government hospitals of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. Total 100 staff nurses were enrolled by purposive sampling technique. A structured knowledge questionnaire (35 items) was prepared to assess the knowledge. A five point rating scale (thirteen items) was developed to determine the attitude of staff nurses. Permission was taken from ethical committee. Result: Majority of the 61% nurses belonged to the age group below 30 years. Most of them had the higher secondary education (62%). Majority of nurses (78%) had a diploma in nursing. More than half of the staff nurses were having 1 to 5 years of total experience (62%). Mean score of knowledge was 14.57. S.D was 3.644. While the mean score of attitude was 46.81 and S.D was 4.496. Conclusion: Findings of the study revealed that the majority of staff nurses had inadequate knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS and also revealed positive attitude despite fear, apprehension, and interestingly showed the willingness to work with HIV/AIDS client. There is need to plan and conduct accelerated HIV/AIDS training program which will remove existing apprehension, fear, and prejudices towards HIV/AIDS.