The Community Based Nurses Perception of HIV/AIDS Stigma
Abstract
HIV/AIDS stigma negatively impacts the patient and the nurse providing care to/for the HIV/AIDS patient. The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine the nurse's perception of HIV/AIDS stigma while caring for HIV/AIDS patients in the community setting. Twenty-two participants, all female, who work in the community setting of Western North Carolina, answered the questionnaires.
The HIV/AIDS Stigma Instrument - Nurse (HASI-N) was utilized to determine the perceived stigma. The HASI-N is designed to test both the degree to which nurses perceive they are stigmatizing patients and the degree to which they perceive nurses are being stigmatized. Results of the study identified statistically low mean scores, which indicates that there is very little if any HIV/AIDS stigma perceived by nurses providing care to/for HIV/AIDS patients.