HOW COULD NURSES INFLUENCE THE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF HIV AND AIDS AMONGST NIGERIANS (SCIENCE PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to investigate how Nurses in Nigeria can increase the depth of knowledge and understanding of HIV/AIDS among Nigerians. The sample of the study was one hundred and three randomly selected nurses ofGeneral Hospital,Annua,Uyo,Akwa ibom state,Nigeria. An instrument tagged “Questionnaire on knowledge of HIV/AIDS Pandemic (QKHP)” designed by the researcher was used to gather data. Three research questions and four research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Frequency countsand percentages were used for the analysis of the questions. Findings showed that the degree of the awareness level on HIV/AIDS among Nigerians was generally moderate. Further analysis, however,revealed that significant differences existed between male and female nurses when basic knowledge about HIVIAIDS, mode of transmission and prevention ofHIV/AIDS were jointly and separately tested.The implications of these findings on counselling practice was discussed.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
Mankind has been contending with diverse health problems since the time of Adam. The greatest of this health problem manifested two decade ago and it was nick-named HIV/AIDS. Within the short pace of its discovery, Ojedokun (2004) remarks that it is among the top ten disease killers in the world wide and would soonest move to the top five at the rate at which it spreads across the nations. Ekoja (2006) describes the disease as the single most serious long term threat tosurvival, threatening to plunge the country into a multi-faceted development crisis.The disease, according to Factsheet on HIV/AIDS (2001), tops the list of the cause of death of people between the ages of 15 and 49 in some areas. Apart from these,the disease has no respect for the abilities and disabilities inherent in an individual.Tire (Jilid. Vol. 10 No I, March, 2008 fSSN. “19-636X 104 is an acronym for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. The onset of HIV inan individual commences when the HIV virus enters the body of an individual via sexual intercourse (vaginal, oral, and anal), blood transfusion, contaminated instruments like syringe. The infected person remains asymptomatic for diverse periods of time. Omoteso (2004) submits that HIV stays in the body for between eight and twenty years. This is possible because an infected person is naturally endowed with anti-bodies which are capable of defending the body against virus or micro-organisms infections. HIV, however, attacks the immune system to the point where the immune system would be incapable of defending the body against infections. Specifically, the virus destroys special cells of the body such as lymphocytes and monocycles. The continuous destruction of cells makes the infected person susceptible to other opportunistic diseases like chronic diarrhea, prolonged fever/malaria, tuberculosis, skin diseases etc. At this point the HIV virus has metamorphosed into full blown AIDS which is an acronym for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.The first AIDS care in Nigeria was officially reported in 1986. The victim was a 13 year old Ghanaian prostitute who paid visit to Nigeria from Cote Divoire.
