Nursing faculty's knowledge and attitudes toward persons with AIDS

The research examined knowledge, fear, homophobia, and the willingness to care for persons with AIDS. The subjects were 45 faculty members from nursing programs in a mid-southern state. The study was an extension of an earlier study by Lester and Beard (1988). A 56-item questionnaire consisting of knowledge and attitude questions was used. Attitude questions were categorized into fear, homophobia, and the intent to give care. With the level of significance set at (p less than .01), homophobia and fear were significantly correlated positively. Knowledge was not significantly correlated with any of the variables. Findings suggest that AIDS education should be directed toward changing attitudes and values by promoting learning in the affective domain.