HIV-Related Stigma Among Nursing Students Attending a College of Nursing that Promotes Nondiscriminatory Care in India

• Published in: The Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 241 - 253
• Main Authors: Nagothu, Lourdu Mary, Tilekar, Swanand D., Sebastian, Anjali K., Fernandes, Perpetua R., McCreary, Linda L., Norr, Kathleen F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.03.2018
• Subjects: AIDS/HIV; HIV-related stigma; India; Nursing; nursing students; stigma scales; stigma scales; nursing students; HIV-related stigma; India
• ISSN: 1055-3290; 1552-6917
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jana.2017.11.008

Bel-Air College of Nursing in India promotes nondiscriminatory care of persons living with HIV throughout its programs, albeit with no specific intervention. We examined whether nursing students' stigmatizing attitudes were related to number of years at Bel-Air. At the start of the 2015 and 2016 academic years, 310 Bachelor's (BScN; 4-year program) and 119 Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM; 2-year program) students completed the Zelaya and colleagues (2008) Stigma Scale (24 Likert-type items). Three subscales (Fear, Blame, Personal Discrimination) measured Overall Personal Stigma. The fourth subscale measured Perceived Community Discrimination. BScN students' mean Overall Personal Stigma and subscales scores declined and Perceived Community Discrimination scores increased from Year 1 to 4. For ANM students, Overall Personal Stigma, Fear, and Personal Discrimination scores were lower for Year 2 than Year 1 students. Bel-Air emphasizes effective and nondiscriminatory care throughout the entire curriculum, providing a model for reducing student nurses' stigmatizing attitudes.