PERCEPTION AND UPTAKE OF VOLUNTARY COUNSELLING AND TESTING FOR HIV AMONG STUDENT NURSES IN A TERTIARY HOSPITAL, BENIN CITY

ABSTRACT

HIV is one of the infectious diseases that threatens human survival. It is an infection that attacks the body’s immune system. HIV is sexually transmitted and occurs by contact with or transfer of blood, etc. Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for HIV is the process by which an individual undergoes counseling that enable him or her to make an informed choice about being tested for HIV. The aim of the study is to assess the perception and uptake of voluntary counseling and testing for HIV among student nurses in tertiary hospitals. The objectives of the study are; To determine the knowledge level of voluntary counseling and testing for HIV among student nurses in tertiary hospitals in Benin City, to examine the perception of student nurses towards voluntary counseling and testing of HIV in Tertiary hospitals in Benin City and to examine factors that may affect the uptake of voluntary counseling and testing for HIV among student nurses in tertiary hospitals in Benin City. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used, this employed questionnaire as a tool for data collection to 215 nursing students as respondents. From the result of the survey, it was seen that 61(28%) have poor level of knowledge, 142(66%) shows fair level of knowledge while 12(6%) have good level of knowledge. Which means their level of knowledge about VCT was fair. In addition, 194(90.2%) have positive perception while 21(9.8%) have negative perception. The result shows that the major factor affecting the uptake of VCT is Fear of rejection by friends and family if positive. At the end of the study, the following recommendations were made; Government and multinational agencies should make concerted efforts to support programs aimed at eradicating HIV. A comparative study can be conducted among student nurses from other tertiary institutions asides those in Benin City.