[LPN1974]

Is it a routine procedure to test patients for AIDS/HIV when they come into the hospital for surgery or any kind of prolonged hospital stay?

When I had surgery they tested me for AIDS.....I'm quite sure of it.
I had a Cholesystectomy, {sp} and it's been several years now, but I'm quite sure that they did.
Is that routine, without signed consent/counseling for the test and results if positive?

BTW, I do NOT have AIDS. I'm on another BB, and the question came up about HIV/AIDS, and mandatory testing.

[KatieBell]

I did a part time stint for pre-surgery clinic in a hospital. It is not standard to test for HIV. The only people I ever tested for HIV were pre-transplant patients. These people had to sign a consent.

If you are sure you were tested for HIV, then all you would have to do is ask for your medical records. it would be highly unlikely that you were tested, and almost nil that you were tested without your written consent.

[LPN1974]

Originally Posted by KatieBell

I did a part time stint for pre-surgery clinic in a hospital. It is not standard to test for HIV. The only people I ever tested for HIV were pre-transplant patients. These people had to sign a consent.

If you are sure you were tested for HIV, then all you would have to do is ask for your medical records. it would be highly unlikely that you were tested, and almost nil that you were tested without your written consent.

How could I go about getting those records?
It has been several years since I had the surgery.

I am just curious, and I don't remember signing any consent, but of course it has been a long time, and I could have. I was in such pain, I may not remember sigining a consent.

[KatieBell]

You call Medical Records at the hospital. Again, it is highly unlikely that they did an HIV test, it is not routiene. We treat everyone as if they have HIV, so we have no need for routiene testing.

[TiffyRN]

Everywhere I've worked there is only testing after counseling then consent. The only exception is if a healthcare worker has had a significant exposure to blood/body fluids. Even then I think they usually try to get consent. It's a big deal to do an AIDS test without consent, I've never seen it done but only heard of it as a possibility if a healthcare worker were exposed and patient wouldn't or couldn't give consent, even then they would need to do it off blood already drawn.

[LPN1974]

Well, I could be wrong, but I was quite sure that I saw something indicating an AIDS/HIV test while I was in for surgery.

I haven't worked in a hospital for years, so I'm just not up to date on routine tests/procedures.

Anyway, I was under the impression that they did and that it was done on everyone who was in for surgery.
I'm probably mistaken, but I think I might try to find out.