title: Reducing HIV stigma among nursing students: a brief intervention.
abstract: HIV stigma can be devastating and is common among health care providers, particularly nurses. The objectives of this study were to (a) assess the acceptability and feasibility of a brief stigma-reduction curriculum among a convenience sample of Indian nursing students and (b) examine the preliminary effect of this curriculum on their knowledge, attitudes, and intent to discriminate. At baseline, 57% of students had at least one misconception about HIV transmission, 38% blamed people living with HIV for their infection, and 87% and 95% demonstrated intent to discriminate while dispensing medications and drawing blood, respectively. Following the curriculum, HIV-related knowledge increased while blame, endorsement of coercive policies, and intent to discriminate decreased significantly. In addition, more than 95% of participants described the curriculum as practice changing. This brief intervention resulted in decreased stigma levels and was also highly acceptable to the nursing students. Next steps include rigorous evaluation in a randomized controlled trial.
authors.affiliation: University of California, San Francisco, USA shilpa.shah@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Shilpa M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.affiliation: Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heylen
authors.affiliation: St. Johns Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Krishnamachari
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Srinivasan
authors.affiliation: St. Johns College of Nursing, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Sheeja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Perumpil
authors.affiliation: Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, San Francisco, CA, USA St. Johns Research Institute, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ekstrand
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006678:HIV; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D057545:Social Stigma; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*
keywords: AIDS; HIV; India; education; nursing; stigma