Nurses’ and midwives’ job satisfaction and stigmatizing attitudes towards HIV/AIDS in Yazd City, Iran, in 2020

Abstract

Introduction: This was a cross-sectional study conducted to determine the relationship between stigmatizing attitudes towards HIV/AIDS patients in relation to job satisfaction of nurses and midwives in Yazd, Eastern Iran. Cases of HIV/AIDS have not been studied. Material and methods: A total of 399 nurses and midwives were enrolled into the study using a multistage cluster method; all participants completed two standard questionnaires regarding health personnel attitudes towards HIV and job satisfaction on their own. Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis were applied to investigate the relationship between stigmatizing attitude and job satisfaction, and to control the effect of confounding variables. Analyzes were evaluated using STATA software, version 11.0. Results: The mean (standard deviation) of stigmatizing attitude score was 17.34 (8.6), which was equal to the mean number (score, 34), and showed the average level of stigmatizing attitudes of midwives and nurses. In total, 24.5%, 52.9%, and 22.6% of the participants presented non-stigmatizing attitude (n < 30), somewhat stigmatizing (n: 39-30), and stigmatizing (n > 39) attitudes towards HIV, respectively. Additionally, the overall mean score of job satisfaction was 53.89, which indicated the average level (38 to 57) of job satisfaction of nurses and midwives. In addition, the overall job satisfaction score was significantly inversely related to the stigmatized attitude of individuals, so that in return for increasing the job satisfaction score in staff, their stigmatizing attitude score decreased (β = 0.10, p = 0.001). Conclusions: The findings showed an inverse and indirect relationship between job satisfaction and attitude. Accordingly, since nurses and midwives play a key role in the care, diagnosis, and treatment of people living with HIV, it is necessary for health managers and policy-makers to highlight the factors affecting job satisfaction of nurses and midwives.