Aids

[ekgqueen]

Hi everyone...

I have a few questions. I am looking for nurses that have cared for HIV+ patients with recurrent bacterial pneumonia. What's the longest you've had a patient on your floor with this dx? Do they commonly have to switch antibiotics due to lack of response to treatment? What are some common antibiotics you use? Also, have you ever had a patient sent home with a picc line/abt therapy or had a patient who decided to go hospice?

And info will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Heather

[rachel h, BSN, RN]

Do you mean pneumocystis carinii (or PCP) pneumonia? We get a lot of HIV+ patients with this dx. Length of stay varies from 4-5 days to a few weeks depending on various factors, such as their CD4 count, age, general health, etc. We use pentamidine quite a bit for treatment. A lot of these patients are also started on Bactrim DS for treatment and/or PCP prophylaxis as well. I can't recall if we've discharged anyone with a PICC for home antibiotic therapy, although there have been patients who need a PICC placed while in the hospital because they need a few weeks of IV therapy and peripheral IV's just can't cut it. Haven't seen any patients who have come to the hospital die from it or had to go to hospice (but I've also only been a nurse for a year)- sometimes it's stubborn to treat but we keep a close eye on it. Hope this helps. :)