Turkish and American Undergraduate Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward HIV/AIDS Patients: A Comparative Study

HIV/AIDS is a complex pandemic that continues to threaten much of the world's population. Health care professionals have significant responsibility in the fight against HIV/AIDS and previous research has shown that negative attitudes affect the quality of care health care professionals provide to HIV/AIDS. Nurses are in a key position to care for patients with HIV/AIDS and to provide education and counseling to the public to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. These patients' complex physical and psychological problems and needs require care by nurses who are knowledgeable and competent, and who do not have prejudices. The purpose of this study is to assess and compare attitudes of undergraduate nursing students toward patients with HIV/AIDS. To this end, 372 Turkish and 241 American undergraduate nursing students were surveyed using the AIDS Attitude Scale (AAS). The validity and the reliability of the original and the translated AAS instrument have been established in previous research. Initial analyses indicate that the American undergraduate nursing students have more positive attitudes toward HIV/AIDS patients than their Turkish counterparts. Within the American cohort, Caucasian students reported more positive attitudes than other groups, whereas among the Turkish students, younger students reported more positive attitudes. It is important to identify nursing students' perceptions of HIV/AIDS issues in their educational process so that appropriate educational interventions can be designed to improve the care of such patients. It is these students who may hold leadership positions in the future as public health nurses in providing quality health care to HIV/AIDS patients.