Georgetown Nursing Present ResearchOn HIV/AIDS

(left to right): Catch Laverriere, Caitlin Devlin, and Theresa Salerno stand in front of the AIDS ribbon at St. Mary’s Hospital in South Africa.

On Thursday, April 19, three seniors in the Department of Nursing at NHS presented their research related to HIV/AIDS.

Catch Laverriere, Caitlin Devlin, and Theresa Salerno discussed, "Examining Attitudes, Beliefs, and Practices Related to HIV/AIDS: Nursing Students' Experiences as Members of a Research Team." Kevin Mallinson, Ph.D., assistant professor of nursing, provided an introduction and overview of the students' work.

The students highlighted transmission myths and attitudes about HIV/AIDS based upon surveys of two cohorts of nursing students--one at Georgetown and the other in South Africa.

Earlier this year, the three students traveled to Africa with Mallinson and Michael Relf, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Nursing, to complete the clinical rotation requirement for their "Nursing Care for Vulnerable Populations" course. They worked at various sites, including St. Mary’s Hospital, a 200-bed hospital in the Mariannhill Mission Complex in South Africa.

Thursday's event was sponsored by Sigma Theta Tau International, the honor society of nursing.