DETECTION OF ITALIAN NURSES’ THOUGHTS ON SEXUAL HEALTH AND THEIR KNOWLEDGE ON THE HIV-TRANSMISSION: A WEB SURVEY

Abstract

ABSTRACTINTRODUCTIONDespite the prevention of sexually transmitted infections included HIV and promotion of sexual health are fundamental parts of human health, the education system in Italy does not seem to provide healthcare professionals with specific knowledge requested by the most recent discoveries on HIV transmission.METHODSA web survey was randomly administered to Italian nurses to collect their thoughts about the academic education they received and analyse their knowledge on one of the newest discoveries related to HIV transmission.RESULTSMore than half of the participants never received any specific academic training on sexual health and sexually transmitted infections, and more than three-quarters of the respondents did not know that a gay couple where only one of the partners is HIV positive will not have to use condoms forever and for every sexual intercourse.CONCLUSIONSThe survey suggests that training on sexual health and sexually transmitted infections of Italian nurses need to be reinforced and it also highlights the need of updating nurses on the <undetectable equals untransmittable> campaign.KEY POINTKnowledge related to sexual health and HIV needs to be expanded in Italian nurses.