Knowledge and awareness among nurses in tertiary care hospitals of Kolkata regarding HIV positive patient care: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Nursing staff have immense contribution in the generation of healthcare and medical care services and act as pillars on which the entire hospital care facility is dependent. This can only be ensured if the hospital staff are well trained and fully updated about the recent treatment protocols to handle the complicated situation of the patients. Objectives of the study was to assess provider’s knowledge of HIV/AIDS, misconceptions and practices in the areas of virology, mode of transmission, prevention.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in five tertiary care hospitals of Kolkata, for a period of three months. The sample size of 250 nursing staffs from 5 hospitals were selected by applying simple random sampling technique. The data was collected by oral questionnaire method and results were analysed by appropriate statistical methods.Results: Among the 250 respondents, 62% received training on HIV/AIDS, 79.6% were aware of the fact that HIV/AIDS is caused by a virus, 86% of respondents correctly know that HIV is the agent that causes AIDS and 65% of respondents correctly answered that later stage of HIV is known as AIDS. It was observed that most of the respondents (94%) have good knowledge about spread of HIV via different modes of sexual contact. The fact that AIDS can be transmitted through blood in various ways is also known to most of nurses.Conclusions: The results of this study can be utilized in stressing on the importance of imparting training to the nurses and other healthcare workers related to HIV/AIDS patient care.