Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of selected facilitators, barriers, beliefs, and knowledge suggested by the literature to be associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) testing among heterosexual Hispanic women. Design This study utilizes a cross-sectional design to analyze secondary data from SEPA III: The Effectiveness Trial. SEPA stands for Salud, Educacion, Prevencion y Autocuidado, which translates to Health, Education, Prevention, and Self-Care. The Social Cognitive Model (SCM) guided this study. Methods Three hundred twenty heterosexual Hispanic women 18 to 50 years of age participated in this study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Findings The most common facilitators for HIV testing were receiving recommendations from a healthcare provider (HCP) and the test is offered by an HCP rather than women asking for it. The most common barrier to testing was having no reason to believe they were infected. Most women believed a positive test result would encourage them to take better care of themselves. However, as much as 15% of women reported desires to kill or hurt themselves if they test positive. On the other hand, a negative result would make them assume their partners are negative and thus do not need to be tested. Significantly, explanatory variables related to HIV testing were knowledge and the HIV test is offered by an HCP instead of women asking for it. Conclusions Strengthening HIV knowledge and offering HIV tests are significant contributions that nurses make to the health of Hispanic women. The SCM can be used to design programs to increase HIV testing among Hispanic women. Clinical Relevance Nurses are encouraged to offer testing and provide culturally competent HIV prevention education to increase HIV testing among Hispanic women.