هادی ذوالفقارزاده

Today, discriminatory behaviors of health workers towards people with AIDS are common practices. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of online micro-learning and brainstorming on nursing students' awareness about mistreatment of HIV/AIDS patients.

In this quasi-experimental study, 90 nursing students were selected and randomly assigned into three groups. After a pre-test of students’ knowledge about discriminatory behaviors, the first group was educated through online micro-learning method and the second group was educated through brainstorming in the skyroom. The control group did not receive any education. Finally, the post-test was done immediately in three groups.

The results showed significant differences between pre-test and post-test of students’ knowledge in the online micro-learning(p=0.001) and online brainstorming (0.001) groups. But there was no difference in the control group (p=0.125). Also, after education, a significant difference was seen between the mean scores of knowledges in three groups (p=0.001). The post-hoc tests showed significant differences between control, brainstorming (p=0.003) and micro-learning groups (p=0.009), but there was no difference between brainstorming and micro-learning groups. 

Findings showed that the both online teaching methods, micro-learning and brainstorming, could increase students’ awareness of discriminatory behaviors towards HIV/AIDS patients. Considering the importance of virtual education due to Coronavirus pandemic, it is suggested to use these two online methods to enhance students’ knowledge.

Different beliefs and attitudes of individuals sometimes lead to different forms of stigma and discrimination against a group with different beliefs. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of stigma and discrimination and to express the discriminatory practices of nursing students of Urmia Islamic Azad University in the face of HIV / AIDS patients.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 90 nursing students of 5th and 6th semesters of Islamic Azad University of Urmia were selected by census and examined using a questionnaire of behavior and professional care of patients with AIDS. SPSS 16 software and descriptive statistical tests were used to analyze the data.

76.7% believed that they could refuse to provide services to AIDS patients in order to maintain their health and that of their families. 55.5% of students considered fear of infection as the most important concern in the care treatment of AIDS patients. 7.8% of students stated that they refused to provide care treatment to an AIDS patient.

Increasing the stigma and discrimination of nursing students towards AIDS patients can be due to fear of infection and lack of preventive measures.