The level of AIDS prevalence in the students’ environment is a fundamental aspect that affects their level of knowledge and attitude. This factor has far-reaching influence on the level of confidence that nursing students on the educational program preparing them for HIV care. Research reveals suggests that students whose origin is of an area characterized by low HIV prevalence have higher tendency to develop positive attitudes on patients with HIV/AIDS. On the other hand, students from areas with high-prevalence rates showed higher knowledge about HIV/AIDS pandemic (Aydin et al, 2007)
According to studies by Al-shehri (2009), results about high knowledge of students from high prevalent regions was due to the widespread community awareness about HIV, increases in infection rates, and mandatory educational programs. This study approach was to establish the students’ attitude and knowledge about HIV in high prevalence regions.
Maswanya et al. (2008) conducted a study on knowledge and attitudes about HIV/AIDS among nursing students in Nagasaki, Japan. The study involved a survey on 383 female nursing students. In their study, they found that students accessed knowledge about HIV/AIDS mainly through the media, and not from their teachers. Although students exhibited a high level of understanding about HIV/AIDS, a significant number of them had reserved attitudes about patients living with AIDS. The study concluded that an appropriate nursing training was required to reduce that gap between students’ knowledge and perception with respect to HIV/AIDS (Maswanya et al., 2008).
Qualitative study revealed absence of an effective training for nursing students in Japan especially on AIDS pandemic. In Japan, limited literature is available about education, attitude and perception of nursing interns on HIV/ AIDS. The study hence informs other researchers that absence of proper knowledge programs results in misconceptions about issues in dealing with HIV/AIDS. It is therefore imperative to note that cases where such reports are unavailable, students tend to develop negative perceptions during their preparation for HIV/AIDS nursing care.
Remember! This is just a sample
You can get your custom paper by oneof our expert writers
Kermode, Holmes, & Langkham (2005) took a study on the influence of knowledge on musing professionals’ attitude towards patients living with HIV in rural India. The study administered questionnaires to 266 female nurses from rural areas. The study indicates that most of the nurses had developed a positive attitude towards caring for patients living with AIDS. However, the analysis showed a misconception of the knowledge about infection and risks. Furthermore, the results from findings indicated that willingness to offer nursing care for HIV/AIDS patients significantly correlated with their experience in dealing with such patients. In the same study, qualitative analysis gave an inference that no correlation between knowledge of transmission and attitudes towards risk. This study reveals that nursing professionals and students needed first-hand experience with HIIV/AIDS patients during their training to reinforce their positive perceptions (Kermode, Holmes, & Langkham, 2005).
A separate study conducted by Miller-Rosser (2006) established that students who accessed frequent nursing experience in caring for people living with HIV demonstrated high positive attitude towards the nursing curriculum that prepared them for HIV/AIDS care. A similar study by Miller-Rosser to determine the level of perception of nursing students on HIV/AIDS care in Riyadh Military hospital involved 100 nursing intern students from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The study’s main objective was to find out how nursing students’ knowledge influenced their ability and perception to care for HIV/AIDS patients. The study used a qualitative methodology to explain how knowledge and attitude, and how they influenced nursing students’ ability to care for HIV/AIDS patients. Student nurses who were comfortable with handling HIV patients had wide knowledge coverage on the concept of HIV/AIDS in relation to transmission and perceived risk.
According to Al-Mazrou, Y et al. (2005), the government of the Kingdom has established many strategies to battle with the increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS through the National Aids Control Program. However, challenges that face the implementation of the strategic plan include the inability to access perceived high-risk areas and limited reporting. Although the Saudi Ministry of Health has gathered data on HIV/AIDS pandemic, continuous surveillances do not offer specific absolute information. Al-Mazrou et al. (2005) noted that little studies have explored the subjec
Order this paper