RURAL NURSES USE OF UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS IN RELATION TO PERCEIVED KNOWLEDGE OF PATIENTS HIV STATUS

The increased incidence of AIDS in rural areas of the United States ha s called attention to the practice of universal precautions by rural n urses. The purpose of this research was to determine protective barrie r use by 555 nurses living in rural counties in Pennsylvania and New Y ork State and the effect on this use of their knowledge of their patie nts' HIV status. Findings suggest that nurses increased their use of p rotection if they knew their patients were HIV-positive. However, if t hey thought that their patients were HIV-negative or if they did not k now their patients' HIV status, they did not always use adequate prote ction. Findings are discussed as they relate to the context of rural n ursing practice, Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.