Effectiveness of Health Education Teachers and School Nurses Teaching Sexually Transmitted Infections/Human Immunodeficiency Virus Prevention Knowledge and Skills in High School.

High rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) among adolescents have long been worrisome to healthcare professionals and health educators. In 2011, more than 1.7 million cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea were reported, with adolescent girls (ages 15–19) and minorities bearing a significant burden.1 Adolescents aged 13–24 represented roughly 26% of the new HIV diagnoses in 2010, 57% of which were among young African Americans.2 It is essential that all adolescents learn behaviors that can help them lower the risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV and other STIs. Schools have long been considered the logical setting for the dissemination and acquisition of information about HIV and STIs, including prevention strategies.3 There is evidence to suggest that parents feel that their children, particularly their high school children, should learn this information and if not through their traditional health and science classes, from a medical or health professional.4,5 School nurses have always been useful in enhancing health protective behavior6 as well as providing one-on-one instruction and guidance to adolescents regarding their reproductive health.7 However, for the most part, school-based instruction on reproductive health and the prevention of disease (eg, STIs, HIV) has been carried out by health education and science teachers8 who have received varying levels of preparation to deliver such programming.9 The purpose of this study was to examine whether the effectiveness (ie, improved knowledge, self-efficacy, intentions, compared to a control group) of a well-established HIV/STI prevention curricula (Be Proud! Be Responsible! [BPBR]) would vary based on facilitator type (health education classroom teacher vs school nurse). These analyses are part of a larger replication study published previously,10 looking at the effectiveness of BPBR11,12 when taught within the high school health education curricula and compared to a control intervention similar in delivery and dosage.