Knowledge about, and attitudes to, HIV/AIDS among students in a Sydney nursing college

The purpose of this study was to assess nursing students' knowledge about HIV infection and AIDS. 231 nursing students at a nursing college in Sydney were invited, and agreed, to participate. They were surveyed on knowledge about transmission, precautions to take when providing nursing care and epidemiology, general attitudes to HIV/AIDS, attitudes to patient-care, risk of infection at work and homosexuality. Two knowledge and four attitude scales were constructed. The students showed a fairly high level of knowledge: a mean percentage score of 78 on the transmission scale and 80 on the precaution scale. They also had some misconceptions about transmission routes. A majority (72%) had favourable attitudes to AIDS patient care; a minority (22%) had a clear fear of contagion through occupational exposure; 26% had negative attitudes to homosexuality. Nursing students with AIDS-care experience had significantly more positive attitudes than those who had no such experience. Knowledge and attitudes were positively correlated (correlation range 0.24-0.46). It is suggested that training programmes include experiential learning to address fear, discomfort and anxieties about HIV/AIDS.