German nursing students' knowledge of and attitudes to HIV and AIDS: two decades after the first AIDS cases

This study describes German nursing students' (n = 180) knowledge and attit udes relating to HIV/AIDS, their homophobia level, willingness to care for people with AIDS, and their approach to possible sexual risk behaviours. A questionnaire was used to collect the data (response rate 97.8%). The resul ts indicated that the nursing students had a rather high knowledge level co ncerning AIDS. However, there were gaps of knowledge, such as regarding AID S immunopathology or the symptoms of the disease. Single nursing students a nd those having cared for a person with AIDS had a more thorough knowledge about the disease. In general, the attitudes towards AIDS and people with A IDS were tolerant and positive, and homophobia was only found with a small minority. Students having positive attitudes towards people with HIV/AIDS h ad less homophobia compared to those having negative attitudes towards pers ons suffering from AIDS. Those with positive attitudes were more willing to care for patients with HIV/AIDS, while those with a high homophobia level were less willing to do so. In addition, students having a high AIDS knowle dge level tended less towards negative attitudes and homophobia than those with a low level of knowledge. The implications of the research for nursing education will be discussed.