Taiwanese nurses' knowledge and attitudes toward persons with AIDS

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive study was to describe Taiwanese nurses' knowledge about and attitudes toward persons with AIDS (PWAs). One hundred and two subjects were recruited from three large medical centers in Taiwan during December, 1992 and January, 1993. A backtranslated Chinese version AIDS Vulnerability Survey (AVS) was used to measure Taiwanese nurses' knowledge of AIDS and attitudes toward persons with AIDS. Findings of this study indicated that Taiwanese nurses lack knowledge of AIDS, have negative attitudes toward PWAs, and perceived themselves highly vulnerable to AIDS. A positive relationship was found between attitudes toward PWAs and length of work experience (r = -.28, p ≤ .05). Significant differences were found between marital status and attitudes toward PWAs (t = -2.58, p ≤ .05), indicating that married nurses had more positive attitudes toward PWAs than single nurses.