Nurse practitioners' reactions to persons with HIV/AIDS: the role of patient contact and education.

Attitudes about caring for patients with HIV/AIDS (PWAs) were investigated in a survey mailed to all nurse practitioners (NPs) in Georgia. There was a 53% response rate to the survey (286 of 539 questionnaires were returned). It was hypothesized that exposure to continuing education on HIV/AIDS and to HIV-positive patients would be associated with more positive attitudes and less extreme behavioral changes associated with fear of transmission. Factor analytic procedures were used to generate three scales: resentment of PWAs (RESENT), anxiety or fear about contact with PWAs (FEELINGS), and changes in personal life related to fear of transmission after contact with PWAs (CHANGE). Descriptive findings indicated that a significant minority of NPs were worried about risk, harbored some resentment toward PWAs, and had changed their behavior out of concern about the possible transmission of HIV. Differences of means and stepwise regression analyses (with several potentially confounding variables controlled) found exposure to continuing education associated with less fear and anxiety, less resentment, and less behavioral change. Exposure to HIV-positive patients was associated with less behavioral change, as predicted, but not with less fear/anxiety or resentment. The cross-sectional survey design limits the attribution of causality, but offers some support for the role of continuing education in improving attitudes toward PWAs.