Knowledge of HIV/AIDS among nurses in southwestern Nigeria

The study was conducted to find out how much this group of nurses from south-western Nigeria knew about the HIV/AIDS phenomenon. A survey questionnaire was distributed to two population convenient samples of nurses; one group at a university teaching hospital, and the other at a post-basic institution of higher learning. The respondents stated that many of them knew quite a bit about HIV/AIDS, but only a few affirmed that they were taught informal classroom setting. Many of the nurses were able to identify the HIV as the culprit in causing the infection that leads to AIDS. The sources of information about HIV/AIDS vary. The nurses attributed the spread of HIV/AIDS to promiscuous teenage girls predominantly, as well as older men due to infidelity. Many of the nurses stated that sex education should be given to children as young as five years old, and as old as over sixteen years of age. It is recommended that curricular infusion should be done to incorporate HIV/AIDS education in the nursing schools in south-western Nigeria.