English

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The HIV/AIDS pandemic has become a serious public health problem. As the prevalence of the infection rises, healthcare professionals worldwide can expect greater clinical exposure to infected patients. OBJECTIVES: 1. To study the source of information about HIV/AIDS among nursing students. 2. To assess the knowledge of nursing students regarding transmission & treatment of HIV/AIDS. 3. To study the attitude of nursing students towards PLWHA. METHODS: A cross sectional study has been done on nursing students of tertiary care hospital. Self- administered questionnaire were used to collect data. RESULTS: The results were obtained from 205 respondents. Most of the students are from 20-23 of age group. Majority of students (97.1%) heard about HIV/AIDS. 48.8% nursing students attended training programme on HIV/AIDS. About 61.5% nursing student's talk about HIV/AIDS in college. Association between gender & knowledge is significant (p=0.003). Knowledge was higher in males. Association between age & knowledge is significant (p=0.03). Knowledge increases with age. Based on present study findings students had positive attitude towards PLWHA. Knowledge and attitudes were not associated (ᵡ2 = 1.347, p= 0.510). CONCLUSION: The overall knowledge about the diseases was considered to be good among the study participants. Based on present study findings students had good level of positive and favorable attitude regarding HIV/AIDS prevention.