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The experiences of nursing students caring for persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)

University of British Columbia

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a health problem of epidemic proportion. Of all health professionals, nurses provide the majority of care to persons with AIDS (PWAs). Studies have documented that nurses hold negative attitudes toward PWAs which affect the care afforded this client population. Several studies, mostly quantitative in nature, have addressed nursing students1 attitudes toward PWAs, the findings of which indicate similar attitudes to those of nurses. Since nursing students, as students and as future nurses, will be expected to provide care to the increasing number of PWAs, a need exists for further research. Moreover, since the potential exists for inductive methods to more fully illuminate phenomena that may otherwise be difficult to convey using quantitative methods, a qualitative study was conducted of nursing students' experiences caring for PWAs. Eight students from the University of British Columbia/Vancouver General Hospital (UBC/VGH) Nursing Program, enrolled in the second through fourth years of the program, and who had cared for at least one PWAs within their course of study, participated. Direction for analysis of the audiotaped, unstructured interviews was taken from phenomenological methods of data analysis. Data analysis revealed that concern for personal safety was a pervasive and enduring theme throughout nursing students1 experiences caring for PWAs. Students experienced varying levels of concern for personal safety, from a heightened awareness of their clients' body fluids, to students being very scared that caring for their clients could cause their own deaths. Students described how concern for personal safety, for them, was unique to caring for PWAs due to the combined effect of the contagious, incurable, and fatal properties of AIDS. Students employed a number of mental activities, termed processing, to appraise and cope with their experiences caring for PWAs. Students also utilized a variety of deliberate and observable behaviors, termed managing, to cope with caring for this client population. The findings from this study have implications for nursing practice, education, administration, and research.

Thesis/Dissertation

application/pdf

2009-02-25

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5088

Nursing

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace