title: Stigma in AIDS nursing care in sub-saharan Africa and the Caribbean.
abstract: Some nurses who provide AIDS care, in addition to experiencing stigma themselves, also exhibit negative attitudes and perpetrate stigma and discrimination toward persons living with HIV (PLWHAs). We used a participatory research approach to explore the nature, context, and influence of stigma on the nursing care provided to PLWHAs in four low- and middle-income countries: Jamaica, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. Eighty-four registered nurses, enrolled nurses, and midwives participated in interviews and 79 participated in 11 focus groups. Nurses were very aware of the stigma and discrimination that AIDS evoked, and made adjustments to their care to decrease the manifestation of AIDS stigma. Despite the assurance that PLWHAs were treated equally, and that universal precautions were used consistently, we found that in reality, nurses sometimes made decisions about nursing care that were based on the appearance of the patient or knowledge of his or her status.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. judy.mill@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mill
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Harrowing
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rae
authors.forename: Solina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Minnie
authors.forename: Scovia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mbalinda
authors.forename: Cerese
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hepburn-Brown
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel / Q000208:ethnology*; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D003219:Confidentiality; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006679:HIV Seropositivity / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007563:Jamaica; D007630:Kenya; D008297:Male; D008880:Midwifery; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009732:Nursing Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D057545:Social Stigma; D013019:South Africa; D014454:Uganda; D016635:Universal Precautions / Q000379:methods
keywords: Africa, sub-Saharan; Caribbean people/cultures; HIV/AIDS; nursing; participatory action research (PAR); stigma