NURSES EVALUATIONS OF SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT HIV AND AIDS

Reviews of the literature indicate that nurses feel ill-informed about HIV/AIDS and that poor knowledge is associated with anxiety and negat ive attitudes towards infected patients and their care. Although some studies have sought to identify the sources of HIV/AIDS information av ailable to nurses, few have attempted to understand how nurses evaluat e such sources. In this study in 1992, 15 sources of HIV/AIDS informat ion were identified during group discussions with nursing staff and nu rse tutors. 277 nursing staff evaluated each of the sources in terms o f perceived frequency (how often the source is used) and six items cho sen to assess the 'usability' and 'usefulness' of each source (e.g. ho w informative the source is, how easy it is to understand). The result s indicate that in-service training, basic training and professional c olleagues are the sources evaluated most highly while posters and adve rtisements, television and radio and popular newspapers are the most f requently used sources of information. Trades unions' journals and pam phlets are the least frequently used sources of information and receiv e only modest evaluations. 20% of respondents report never having rece ived any training regarding HIV and AIDS. Implications for the future provision of HIV/AIDS information and directions for further research are discussed.