Demystifying HIV: academic training for undergraduate nursing students.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and evaluate a participatory and dialogic health education program with nursing students at a community college in Criciúma, SC, on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and its care pathway. METHOD: Action research, grounded in Critical Pedagogy, conducted with 19 nursing students in their 8th through 10th semesters of the program. The training took place in four stages: exploratory, planning, action, and evaluation, with questionnaires administered before and after the intervention. RESULTS: Before the training, self-assessments of knowledge regarding Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, and Antiretroviral Therapy were predominantly rated as fair or poor/very poor. After the intervention, all participants rated their knowledge as very good or good. There was also an increase in the perceived readiness to welcome and counsel people regarding the Human Immunodeficiency Virus care pathway within the Unified Health System, from 52.6% to 94.7%. CONCLUSION: The participatory and dialogic health education program developed with nursing students proved effective in expanding knowledge about HIV and its care pathway, as well as in strengthening participants' confidence in approaching people living with HIV.