Factors related to the willingness of nurses to care for AIDS patients in Taiwan.

Nurses' willingness to provide care for AIDS patients was studied using a self-developed and evaluated anonymous questionnaire given to 258 nurses (a response rate 91.9%). The subjects were randomly sampled from three general hospitals in Taiwan and consisted of both nurses who have experienced providing care for AIDS patients and nurses who have not had the experience of caring for AIDS patients. As a result, 46.1% (119/258) of the nurses responded that they would accept caring for AIDS patient but 93.3% of them asked for extra pay as a condition. Among the 139 nurses who would refuse to care for AIDS patients, 48.2% of them would quit their jobs if giving such care was compulsory. The scores on knowledge of workplace risk and protection was higher among positive attitude nurses (p = 0.0031). The odds ratio (OR) estimation was elevated in those whose attitudes were positive (OR = 4.4; 95% CI 3.2-6.1) as compared to those whose attitudes were negative about willingness to care for AIDS patients. But no relationships were found in age, educational levels, years of practice, marital status, religious beliefs, position status, and experience in providing care for AIDS patients with a willingness to care for AIDS patient. We suggest that if nurses have a better knowledge of workplace risk and protection regarding AIDS, then they have a more positive attitude and a greater willingness to care for AIDS patients.