Fear of HIV Susceptibility Influencing Burden of Care among Nurses in South-East Nigeria

Abstract

<p class="MsoNormal"> <span lang="EN-CA">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 </span><span lang="EN-CA">the </span><span lang="EN-CA">level of caregivers burden among Nigerian nurses. To direct the study, three speci</span><span lang="EN-CA">al</span><span lang="EN-CA"> 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</span><span lang="EN-CA"> </span><span lang="EN-CA">[1]</span><span lang="EN-CA"> </span><span lang="EN-CA">and abridged Champion Health Belief Model Scale [2] were used to elicit data. Results revealed that the majority </span><span lang="EN-CA">of </span><span lang="EN-CA">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 < 0.05 was obtained showing a significant relationship between fear of susceptibility and caregivers burden. This paper discusses the implications of these findings for nursing and health care and recommends the implementation of educational opportunities to allay fears and minimize caregiver burden among nurses and other health care professionals.</span> </p

The Exceptional Role of Women as Primary Caregivers for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, West Africa

“…It was however obvious that majority of caregivers who decline future caregiving role did not received any form of support, while spending over 9 hours per day providing care. This findings substantiate other studies which assert that increased burden with limited support validate burnout as well as physical and psychological incapacitation [12,87]. Therefore, with the global commitment to achieve universal access to prevention, care, support and treatment for those PLWHA, there is need to reflect on what these goals might mean in terms of burden on women and girls [41].…”

“…A similar report was obtained from an Australian research where 2.65 million family caregivers in 2015, were females (12.3%) and only 9.3% were males [27]. Studies in Nigeria also revealed gender difference when it comes to caregiving, where majority were female, (67.3%) and experience a higher level of burden than men [12,28]. In France majority of caregivers were women and whenever one caregiver was needed to provide care it was most often female [29].…”

“…As the number of people living with HIV/AIDS increases, the demand for family members who assume caregiving role increases [11]. Moreover without appropriate restructuring of existing role to accommodate new caregiving roles, the increase in responsibility may constitute burden, which is detrimental to the caregiver's health as well as quality of care rendered to the care recipient [10][11][12].…”

Assessing the Relationship between Caregivers Burden and Availability of Support for Family Caregivers’ of HIV/AIDS Patients in Calabar, South East Nigeria

“…This study revealed that the majority of the caregivers daily earning was low (Table 1), in conformity with previous observation by WHO [52]. Though this study did not assess the correlation between burden and quality of care, it is important to know that the quality of life of the care recipient depends on the quality of care provided, and the high level of burden has a detrimental effect on the caregiver and a direct effect on quality of care receiver [5,8].…”

“…These roles are assumed without questioning and may be laden with adverse consequences [5][6][7]. HIV epidemic has become a major public health challenge of our times and its impact engulfs all sectors of our life including homes [8][9][10][11]. Global effort has been directed to tackle this pan-demic and to reduce its prevalence in which it is no longer a public health issue.…”