Sandhya Ghai
National Institute of Nursing Education, PGIMER, India
Title: Impact of workshop on HIV/AIDS/ART on knowledge of nursing students at National Institute of Nursing Education, PGIMER, Chandigarh
Biography
Biography: Sandhya Ghai
Abstract
Introduction: India has the third largest HIV epidemic in the world. In 2017, HIV prevalence among adults (aged 15-49) was an estimated 0.2%. This figure is small compared to most other middle-income countries but because of India's huge population (1.3 billion people) this equates to 2.1 million people living with HIV. Nurses have played a crucial role in caring for individuals infected with HIV since the inception of the epidemic. Nurses have assumed multiple responsibilities in HIV Prevention care and treatment, both in traditional nursing roles and new areas especially in resource-limited settings. A well trained nursing manpower is crucial for the Control of transmission of infection & management of patient infected with HIV.
Objective: To assess the knowledge of B.Sc. Nursing Final year students on HIV/AIDS & ART before the workshop by conducting the pre-test, to conduct workshop on HIV/AIDS & ART, and to re-assess the knowledge after workshop by conducting the post test.
Methodology: Keeping this in mind a workshop was planned for student-nurses on HIV/AIDS. A total of 139 student nurses from B.Sc. Nursing 4 years and B.Sc. Post Basic nursing were trained. Total duration of the course was 5 days. Important topics related to HIV/ AIDS on Nurses Role in HIV/AIDS & ART, Stigma & Discrimination, Epidemiology and disease progression, Counselling and testing for HIV, Prevention of parent to child transmission (PPTCT), Infection control & Post exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), Introduction to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), Pediatric HIV, Symptomatic management of Opportunistic infections, Sexually transmitted infections, Positive living, Palliative care for people living with HIV/AIDS. Pretest and post test were conducted to assess the effectiveness of the workshop. Maximum score of the Pre-test and Post-test was 20.
Result: Results revealed that the majority (87.7%) of nurses were females, 5.7% were married and 57.5% belonged to rural background. Result also showed that the mean post test scores (17.65 + 1.44) of B.Sc. Nursing (4 years) students & B.Sc. Nursing (Post Basic) were significantly higher than the mean pre test scores (15.66+ 1.46) as per paired t-test (p<.05).
Conclusion: The study concluded that the workshop was effective in increasing the knowledge of nurses about HIV/AIDS & ART, before they are inducted into job. It is also recommended that such training programmes should be the part of all nursing courses and in-service programmes.