The effects of a training program for reducing nurses' discrimination towards PLWHAs

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Public Health
• Medical Sociology

Background:

• Nurses' discriminatory attitudes towards clients with Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) can negatively impact patient care and outcomes.
• A need exists for effective training models to address and reduce this discrimination in clinical settings.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a training program aimed at reducing discrimination among nurses towards clients with AIDS.
• To analyze factors influencing the training's effectiveness and inform the development of a sustainable training model.

Main Methods:

• A 3-step training program (knowledge education, psychological intervention, behavior correction) was implemented for 150 clinical nurses.
• Nurses completed pre-training and 6-month post-training questionnaires assessing AIDS knowledge, discriminatory attitudes, and nursing behaviors.
• Correlation and comparative analyses were used to evaluate training outcomes and influencing factors.

Main Results:

• Post-training scores significantly improved for AIDS-related knowledge (49.69 to 59.01) and discriminatory attitudes (47.01 to 52.19).
• A positive correlation was found between nurses' AIDS knowledge and their standard nursing behavior (R = 0.31, P < .05).
• Nurses with prior experience caring for AIDS clients and higher education levels demonstrated significantly better knowledge and behavior scores.

Conclusions:

• AIDS-related knowledge training and psychological interventions are effective in reducing discriminatory attitudes among nurses towards AIDS clients.
• While attitudes improved, the direct impact on nursing behavior requires further study.
• The findings support the integration of targeted training modules into nursing education to combat discrimination.