<p> HIV/AIDS epidemic is a significant public health issue in the United States (U.S.). A dearth of research focusing on the need to increase HIV screening across healthcare settings (Branson et al., 2006; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010) exists, yet few studies focus on the healthcare providers perspective. Utilizing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study examined nurse practitioner (NP) attitudinal, normative, and control beliefs toward routine HIV screening and their associations and relationships with intentions and behaviors.</p><p> A cross sectional study was conducted using a random sample of 600 members from the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. A total of 180 NPs completed a questionnaire. SPSS Version 22 was used for analysis. Although NPs care for a majority of patients aged 13 - 64, few (25.3%) report routine HIV screening while almost half (48.2%) report having intentions. NPs with higher HIV screening intentions were associated with higher HIV screening behaviors, positive attitude scores, higher normative expectation scores, higher normative priority scores, higher facilitator scores, and lower control barrier scores. Logistic regression revealed that social normative expectations and control facilitators predicted intentions toward routine HIV screening. Higher HIV screening behaviors were associated with positive attitude scores, higher normative expectation scores, and lower control barrier scores. Logistic regression revealed that social normative expectations and attitudes predicted behaviors toward routine HIV screening. Logistic regression revealed few beliefs or demographic variables predicted intentions and behaviors. Practicing for 10 -20 years predicted HIV screening intentions, while belief of obtaining consent from a parent/guardian in patients <18 years of age, both rural and suburban communities, and having little to no specialty education in HIV screening were found to be most predictive of not routinely screening for HIV. Office staff support was found to be most predictive of HIV screening behaviors. The TPB is a valuable framework to examine healthcare provider behavior. The NP plays an important role in screening and case finding while focusing on health promotion and disease prevention. Greater coordinated efforts are needed to help NPs incorporate universal HIV screening into healthcare settings. </p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3713645 |
| Date | 03 September 2015 |
| Creators | Sutherland, Jodi L. |
| Publisher | State University of New York at Binghamton |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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