Abstract
Due to the chronic shortage of health personnel, nurses and midwives now play a fundamental role in the care and treatment of people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLHIV) in Cameroon. This study was therefore designed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practice with regard to care of PLHIV among nursing and midwifery students in Fako division of Cameroon. A survey was performed between May and July 2015, among 227 nursing and midwifery students (in their second to final year of study), selected from 8 government accredited training institutions in Fako division of Cameroon. An anonymous self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data. The Pearson’s chi-square test, univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses adjusting for possible confounders were all performed as part of the statistical analyses. The cutoff of statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Nursing and midwifery students had a moderate level of HIV/AIDS knowledge (average score of 7.02 on a scale of 11). Attitude towards PLHIV was generally positive (68.7%) but there were some misconceptions and prejudice about PLHIV, with considerable stigmatization (31.3%), unwillingness to share a room with someone infected with HIV (27.7%), and unwillingness to work on PLHIV (23.8%). Good HIV/AIDS knowledge was observed to be the sole independent predictor (p = 0.004) of positive attitude towards PLHIV. Fur-thermore the confidence of the respondents regarding care of PLHIV was generally moderate. Our results suggest the need for the development of a more appropriate education program in nursing and midwifery institutions in Fako division to reduce the discrepancies between the general knowledge, attitude and practice regarding care of PLHIV.
Highlights
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is one of the most important infectious diseases in the world today
Our results suggest the need for the development of a more appropriate education program in nursing and midwifery institutions in Fako division to reduce the discrepancies between the general knowledge, attitude and practice regarding care of people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLHIV)
The current study demonstrates that nursing and midwifery students have moderate knowledge on HIV/AIDS
Summary
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) is one of the most important infectious diseases in the world today. There were an estimated 36.7 million people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in 2015 [1]. There is an acute shortage of health personnel in Cameroon with ratios of 2 doctors and 16 nurses for every 10,000 patients [6]. Considering the workload on the available human resources, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends tasks shifting from doctors to nurses, midwives and other non-clinicians staff in the management of HIV and AIDS [7]. In Cameroon task shifting has become a common practice along the care and treatment cascade in most HIV/AIDS treatment facilities. Nurses and midwives are expected to perform HIV counselling and testing, clinical assessment, initiation and monitoring of antiretroviral therapy in addition to adherence and psychosocial assessment and support along the continuum of care [7]. Nurses and midwives are involved in primary data collection, record keeping and reporting which makes monitoring and evaluation of services feasible, guide decision making and ensure the provision of quality services [7]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
