Nurses’ self-evaluations of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) staff educational programs

Abstract

This study looks to describe nurses’ self-evaluations of staff education programs relating to HIV and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Two different education programs were employed in three Lithuanian hospitals: a 2-day workshop and the distribution of written materials were used in one hospital, and only the distribution of written materials in another. A third hospital was chosen for control purposes. A descriptive and comparison study was undertaken with two experimental groups (first group, n = 63, second group, n = 63), and one control group (n = 59). Nurses in the first group were more satisfied with the program methods (p < .001), duration (p < .001), and also the value for them (p = .010).

The nurses’ satisfaction with the education program related to their background factors was mostly related to the nurses’ working area. Nurses from the first group who worked in a gynecological ward were more satisfied with the information they received on HIV transmission than those drawn from a primary health care center, (p = .038), they were also more satisfied with the program’s duration than nurses from medical ward (p = .003). Program evaluation (from 0 to 10) was affected by the nurses’ working areas. The nurses in the first group who worked in the gynecological ward evaluated the program with the higher mark than the nurses from the surgical ward. The result was statistically significant (p = .004). Nurses from the second group (provided with only written material) who worked in a primary health care center were more satisfied with the HIV and AIDS disease content, than nurses who worked in the gynecological ward (p = .033).

The comparison between the two education groups evaluating the education program about HIV and AIDS in the interval scale from 0 to 10 was statistically significant (p = .016). The nurses of the first group evaluated the education program very highly.

Most suggestions concerned program methods and program duration when asked the ways for further developed education programs. The nurses of the first group (2-day workshop and the provision of written materials) indicated that they would like to have courses with lectures using more visual means of presenting material, more discussions, and that the courses should be longer. We can conclude that special courses are needed for nurses to improve their knowledge of HIV and AIDS.