title: Undergraduate nursing student's attitudes towards caring for people with HIV/AIDS.
abstract: The aim of this quantitative study was to determine the attitudes of Australian nursing students towards caring for people with HIV/AIDS. This research study was conducted among second year undergraduate nursing students at a university in South Australia, during August 2007. The survey tool consisted of six demographic questions and the AIDS Attitude Scale. This questionnaire was completed by 396 students, giving a response rate of 94.7%. The vast majority (95.7%) of students participating in this study demonstrated very positive attitudes towards caring for people with HIV/AIDS and only 4.3% demonstrated negative attitudes. No statistically significant differences were found in attitude score based on participants' age, gender, previous HIV/AIDS education, previous nursing experience or previous experience of caring for someone with HIV/AIDS. A statistically significant difference in AIDS attitude score was found in relation to participants' country/region of citizenship, with nursing students from China, East Asia, South East Asia, and Central Asia and Middle East having more negative attitudes than students from other countries/regions. As an increasing number of nursing students have been recruited to Australia from these countries/regions, nurse educators need to be aware of such differences when planning and delivering HIV/AIDS educational programs in tertiary institutions.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. david.pickles@flinders.edu.au
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pickles
authors.forename: Lindy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Belan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000451:nursing*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult