TITLE:
Fear of HIV Susceptibility Influencing Burden of Care among Nurses in South-East Nigeria
AUTHORS:
Ekaete Francis Asuquo, Prisca Adejumo, Josephine Etowa, Adebayo Adejumo
KEYWORDS:
HIV/AIDS Susceptibility; Caregivers’ Burden; Nurses; Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of AIDS,
Vol.3 No.3,
September
5,
2013
ABSTRACT: HIV/AIDS currently is a major cause of disability and mortality
especially in sub-Saharan Africa. As the population affected by HIV/AIDS
increases, so does the burden of this chronic disease and the challenges
associated with caring. HIV scourge in Nigeria has been overwhelming since 1992
with debilitating impacts and this study presents the extent of fear of
susceptibility and the level of caregivers
burden among Nigerian nurses. To direct the study, three special objectives and one hypothesis were raised, which were
to determine the extent of fear of susceptibility and perceived seriousness of
HIV, to ascertain the percentage of nurses who tested to know their HIV status
and the associated level of caregivers burden among nurses. The study also
determined the relationship between fear of susceptibility and caregiver’s
burden. A purposive sampling technique was used to select 210 nurses caring for
people living with HIV/AIDS in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital,
Nigeria. Structured questionnaires and relevant validated scales such as Zarit
Burden Interview [1] and abridged Champion Health Belief Model Scale [2] were
used to elicit data. Results revealed that the majority of 41.0% respondents nursed fear of susceptibility despite
the practice of universal precaution and perceived HIV as a serious and life
threatening infection, 36.0% were not sure of their experience and 23% had no
fear of HIV. 33.8% respondents experienced mild to moderate level of burden,
27.2% respondents experienced moderate to severe level of burden while 15.7%
experienced severe burden. A Chi Square value of 68.2 at P