AbstractsPsychology

Perceptions of nurses on disclosure of children’s

by Yenealem Tadesse Woldemariam




Institution: University of South Africa
Department:
Year: 0
Keywords: Perception; Children living with HIV; Disclosure
Record ID: 1456392
Full text PDF: http://hdl.handle.net/10500/6680


Abstract

A quantitative, descriptive, explorative survey was conducted to explore and describe nurses’ perceptions of disclosure to children of their HIV positive status in Addis Ababa. 100 nurses working in six conveniently sampled health centres participated by completing a self-administered questionnaire. The findings revealed that the majority of participants were of the opinion that children have the right to know their HIV status, participate in their own treatment, and that disclosure contributes towards improved adherence. Forty-one of the participants said that it is nurses’ role to support caregivers in the disclosure process. But 56.3% felt they lacked the training to disclose to children that they are infected with HIV. Accordingly, it is recommended that relevant and applied training is required to equip nurses with the knowledge and skills to disclose to children their status. The importance of nurses’ proactive role in disclosure to children of their HIV status needs to be emphasised.