Preparing every nurse to become an HIV nurse

There are currently over 1.2 million people in the United States living with HIV, and that number is increasing. Because persons infected are living longer, they must deal with numerous comorbidities complicated by underlying HIV disease. This may require frequent healthcare visits. The majority of new nurses will not be working in positions focused on HIV care, however many nurses will find themselves called upon to care for patients living with HIV regardless of their employment setting. Unfortunately, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic has faded from the headlines, HIV/AIDS education has decreased in most nursing schools, and undergraduate students receive minimal education about HIV/AIDS. Many nursing students nearing graduation report feeling unprepared to care for patients with HIV. This lack of preparation results from lack of knowledge, which can perpetuate fear and stigmatizing attitudes towards people living with HIV.

The purpose of this study was to gauge the impact of utilizing speakers living with HIV, and HIV healthcare professionals in preparing undergraduate nursing students to care for patients living with HIV.

To assess HIV-related knowledge and attitudes of undergraduate nursing students we used a quantitative, descriptive pretest-posttest design. Nonparametric related samples tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were conducted to compare knowledge and attitudes of HIV and persons living with HIV, in undergraduate nursing students before and after an HIV educational experience.

There was a significant difference in the overall scores in HIV knowledge after the education experience (p=0.000). Questions related to stigma on the HIV/AIDS Questionnaire for Health Care Providers also revealed statistically significant improvement. Results suggest the benefits of incorporating this curriculum addition as a method of HIV education into the undergraduate curriculum may make a tremendous impact on student readiness to care for persons with HIV.