HIV/AIDS is no longer a health problem that can be ignored. At one time, HIV/AIDS was considered by many people to be a disease that only affected “them.” Today it would be difficult to find a person who has not been directly or indirectly affected by the magnitude of the pandemic. In Sub-Saharan Africa, one out of every four people has HIV/AIDS. Twenty-five years ago, homes were occupied by nuclear families. In contrast, today many homes are occupied only by the young and the old. An entire generation is missing, a generation who would have been the next leaders, teachers, businessmen, and scientists.
“But,” you say, “that is Africa. I live in a quiet, middle-class, suburban town. Why should I be concerned?” In the U.S. unprotected sex among men who have sex with men (MSM), remains the category with the greatest incidence of HIV/AIDS. However, the number of new cases that result from unprotected heterosexual relations, especially among young women of color, continues to increase, as does the incidence among people age 50 and older. HIV/AIDS has crossed all racial and socioeconomic borders. In some way it has touched each of our families, friends, churches, schools, and communities. It threatens our children, absorbs our limited health resources, and, at this time, still has no cure.
Illegal drug use is now part of the culture of even the most rural areas in the U.S. Unfortunately, the use of illegal drugs is often associated with HIV/AIDS. Infection can occur from sharing needles when injecting intravenous drugs, and from sharing straws when snorting cocaine. Drug and alcohol abuse is often associated with increased high-risk behaviors.
Nurses are in advantageous positions to change the outcome of HIV/AIDS because of their opportunity to interact with patients. They can provide HIV prevention education, assess for high-risk behaviors and suggest testing when appropriate, provide patient education on medications and safe behaviors for patients already infected, provide hospital or community nursing care for ill patients, act as patient advocates, and provide support for infected patients and their families. Patients with HIV/AIDS require nurses that are knowledgeable about HIV because of the complexity of their medical and/or mental health diagnoses, symptom management, and psychosocial needs.
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