Abstract

Huosman D. Atiku*, Mohammed G. Musa and Dansuki Gregory Salmani

Pregnant women living with human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) infection are at risk of transmitting HIV to their babies. Most of this transmission occurs during pregnancy, labour and delivery and during breast feeding. The nurse/midwife as a change agent has an important role to play in ensuring prevention of mother to child transmission. Effective and efficient performance of this role by nurses is predicated on their adequate knowledge, attitude and practices. This study assessed the knowledge, attitude and practice of nurses in State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri towards the prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) of HIV. This is a descriptive cross sectional survey. A total sample of 50 nurses participated in the study and data was collected through a self-developed and validated questionnaire. Analysis was done manually; descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentages was used to answer research questions. The mean age of respondents was 40 ± 6.2 years. Many of the nurses had multiple sources of information on PMTCT; unfortunately multiple sources of information did not translate significantly to improved knowledge of the participants as shown by their low knowledge on PMTCT of HIV (65.7%). The study further reveals a general negativism in the attitudes (41.8%) of respondents towards prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. Greater percentage of the respondents showed a discriminatory attitude towards pregnant women living with HIV/AIDS. The practice of PMTCT was generally very low (56.9%). This study demonstrates that nurses in State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri are inadequately informed on practical issues in the prevention of MTCT of HIV. They are therefore handicapped to play an effective role in this important aspect of prevention of HIV. Sensitization, capacity building and appropriate clinical settings remain indispensable assets for meaningful intervention results.