Nurses' fears and professional obligations concerning possible human-to-human avian flu.
This survey aimed to illustrate factors that contribute to nurses' fear when faced with a possible human-to-human avian flu pandemic and their willingness to care for patients with avian flu in Taiwan. The participants were nursing students with a lesser nursing credential who were currently enrolled in a bachelor degree program in a private university in southern Taiwan. Nearly 42% of the nurses did not think that, if there were an outbreak of avian flu, their working hospitals would have sufficient infection control measures and equipment to prevent nosocomial infection in their working environment. About 57% of the nurse participants indicated that they were willing to care for patients infected with avian influenza. Nurses' fear about an unknown infectious disease, such as the H5N1 influenza virus, could easily be heightened to levels above those occurring during the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome outbreak in Taiwan.
Tzeng
Huey-Ming
HM
University of Michigan, School of Nursing, Division of Nursing, Business and Health Systems, Ann Arbor 48109-0482, USA. tzeng_hueyming@yahoo.com
Yin
Chang-Yi
CY
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D032781:Codes of Ethics; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D004518:Education, Professional, Retraining; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control; D053124:Influenza A Virus, H5N1 Subtype; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000451:nursing* / Q000517:prevention & control; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D016272:Occupational Health; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D016079:Refusal to Treat / Q000941:ethics; D012941:Social Responsibility; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology