Factors influencing baccalaureate nursing students' attitudes towards persons living with AIDS

Using stigma theory described by Goffman (1963), a descriptive correlational study was conducted to identify factors that influence nursing students' attitudes toward persons living with AIDS (PLWAs). Two hundred ten baccalaureate nursing students completed a three-part questionnaire consisting of a demographic data sheet, AIDS Knowledge Scale (AKS), and AIDS Attitude Scale (AAS). The AKS, 15 true/false questions, covered general aspects of AIDS knowledge. Attitudes toward PLWAs were assessed using the AAS, a series of five vignettes each followed by a 16-item Likert scale. Stepwise multiple regression indicated that student status, AIDS knowledge, ideology, ethnicity, and age influenced nursing students' attitudes toward PLWA. Variables that did not enter the regression equation were years of work experience, gender, religion, type of significant interaction with PLWAs, and heart-changing experiences. Students who demonstrated the most stigmatizing attitudes were conservative, had more nursing education, less AIDS knowledge, or were noncaucasian.