Caring for HIV+/AIDS patients

Speculating · Dec 2, 2003

And???

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 2, 2003

Originally posted by Speculating
And???

AND...and it was a real fear for many who were in nursing and medicine then. NOT THAT LONG AGO!!! (I was not at that time but fearful as the next person).....

AND---there are people entering nursing and medicine who have never known a time in their lives when HIV/AIDS were NOT a part of life.....can you imagine??????

AND---- we have come a long way, learning about HIV/AIDS----how it IS and IS NOT transmitted...thank Heaven.

AND----we have learned it's OK to hug people who are HIV or AIDS positive. (we did not know then).....

AND in the years since we first learned of it, millions have died....millions more are afflicted and we still need to learn so much more.....time seems to be running out for so many.

AND--- there are nations in Africa where up to 70% of the populace is HIV+ and will die within a decade, leaving countless orphaned children and helpless elderly to fend for themselves...

AND---- this is already happening as we speak in many of the world's poorer nations...

AND--- yet we turn out backs as a country----on the epidemic...on caring for those who are afflicted-----apathy runs rampant. AND yet, it's shelling out whole populations worldwide.....

AND---we have so much to learn yet.....

AND---- we should never forget how far we have come, understanding this disease...and how far we have yet to go to find a way to live with it, if not cure it........

AND--------------------well anyone here can fill in the blanks with their thoughts/remembrances............................

Maybe some of us know someone who died or is affected as we speak....?????? I know I DO......and she fights to live a normal life and raise her kids with dignity every day she draws breath. She did not ask for this yet it was visited upon her. So yes, I care about the progress being made and anything new on the horizon regarding HIV/AIDS.....how bout you?

well it's a topic worthy of discussion in my book,anyhow. :cool:

Speculating · Dec 2, 2003

Originally posted by SmilingBluEyes
AND...and it was a real fear for many who were in nursing and medicine then. NOT THAT LONG AGO!!! (I was not at that time but fearful as the next person).....

AND---there are people entering nursing and medicine who have never known a time in their lives when HIV/AIDS were NOT a part of life.....can you imagine??????

AND---- we have come a long way, learning about HIV/AIDS----how it IS and IS NOT transmitted...thank Heaven.

AND----we have learned it's OK to hug people who are HIV or AIDS positive. (we did not know then).....

AND in the years since we first learned of it, millions have died....millions more are afflicted and we still need to learn so much more.....time seems to be running out for so many.

AND--- there are nations in Africa where up to 70% of the populace is HIV+ and will die within a decade, leaving countless orphaned children and helpless elderly to fend for themselves...

AND---- this is already happening as we speak in many of the world's poorer nations...

AND--- yet we turn out backs as a country----on the epidemic...on caring for those who are afflicted-----apathy runs rampant. AND yet, it's shelling out whole populations worldwide.....

AND---we have so much to learn yet.....

AND---- we should never forget how far we have come, understanding this disease...and how far we have yet to go to find a way to live with it, if not cure it........

AND--------------------well anyone here can fill in the blanks with their thoughts/remembrances............................

Maybe some of us know someone who died or is affected as we speak....?????? I know I DO......and she fights to live a normal life and raise her kids with dignity every day she draws breath. She did not ask for this yet it was visited upon her. So yes, I care about the progress being made and anything new on the horizon regarding HIV/AIDS.....how bout you?

well it's a topic worthy of discussion in my book,anyhow.

Very well put SmilingBluEyes. I think we all owe a great service to Magic Johnson. Magic actually doesn't get the credit he bravely earned when he boosted the virus to the forefront and enhanced the dialog that was previously just whispered about when he stepped up to the plate and said, "I have HIV". Although it really shouldn't matter one way or another, I in reality have the utmost respect for the pt. that states, "I have HIV/AIDS" as I kneel down at the bedside to drop a line and draw labs.

BarbPick · Dec 2, 2003

No one would do high tech home visits on HIV patients. They needed TPN and antibiotic infusions, Anfaterrible infusions, Home Blood transfusions. A supervisor I used to work with started a high tech home health agency for HIV patients, in south miami, and we all followed her.

I would do visits when I finished work on my way home. Gave so much Gancyclovier, I was amazed.

Yes, I remember very well

live4today, RN · Dec 2, 2003

Deb, very well said. :kiss

kids-r-fun......I remember when people were just as afraid to touch a cancer patient thinking they would "catch" the disease or something. Much like people use to treat AIDS patients. :rolleyes:

I've cared for many HIV+ and AIDS patients as a nurse, and never worried about catching anything. I use Universal Precautions with all my patients as we all should do. :nurse:

TinyNurse, RN · Dec 2, 2003

As a new grad and being in my mid twenties, i remember the phil donahue shows about aids patients in the early eightys.............. Today i have medics whispering "jen, wear gloves" when they bring an "honest hiv +" patient in.............. it's sorta weird cuz i wear gloves on any iv start / trauma assessment.

notingly.... it's not the ones that are aware of their hiv+ status that we need to worry about, it's the ones that don't, so that's why standard precautions are SO important.

Don't forget that standard precautions should protect you as far as I have learned in school and my short time in the ED.

xoxo

Jen

Speculating · Dec 2, 2003

Originally posted by cheerfuldoer
kids-r-fun......I remember when people were just as afraid to touch a cancer patient thinking they would "catch" the disease or something. Much like people use to treat AIDS patients.

Remember the big media blitz in the 70's to educate people on the evils of herpes. It was everywhere commercials billboards you name it. People were deathly afraid of catching herpes it was the HIV/AIDS of the 1970's. Today when people leave the health dept. you can hear them say thank god it's just herpes. HIV/AIDS is the herpes of today. What's scary is something will replace HIV/AIDS.

kids · Dec 2, 2003

Originally posted by Speculating
And???

...I did it anyway. They were (are) very sick people who needed to taken care of by someone who didn't look at them with fear, revulsion and resentment.

So many left this world surrounded by strangers, alienated from their families. Back then it was pretty common for the infected person to not tell their family the (whole) truth about their disease. How sad to have to lie to your own family, to not tell them you were dying of cancer so you wouldn't have to die alone.

In the beginning we wore gowns, gloves and masks.

As more and more was learned about the virus and its transmition the barriers came off, masks and gowns first and finally the gloves. For me parting with the gloves was a relief, I really hated having to touch a dying person with gloved hands. Even in their final moments the didn't get to feel the warmth of a caring hand.

I guess am I just needng to share this stuff. My forced retirement is causing a lot of reflection on my years as a nurse. I am praying it (retirement) is temporary, I haven't nursed long enough, I'm not done yet, I still have things to do.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 2, 2003

Speculating, it was actually Rock Hudson who first put a famous name to AIDS. He was loved and adored by millions as a sex symbol. Magic was indeed courageous, as he was a famous heterosexual, and that opened a lot of eyes. Many celebrities didn't want to have to live with the "stigma". How many celebrites now are out with their HIV status? I can hardly think of one.

kids-r-fun, I was a nurse when AIDS first it and luckily I was away from the hardest hit areas when I was young and single. But hearing of the horrors was one of the reasons I strived to become a nurse. (It took a little longer for me to become a nurse that I meant for it to.)

Don't get me started on the beloved Regean Administration.

jnette, ASN, EMT-I · Dec 2, 2003

Three of my sister's closest and dearest friends EVER have died from aids.

One was from her days in Buffalo back in the mid-70's. He was a travel agent as she was at the time, and they shared many funfilled times together both at work and their "off time".

The second was her friend and "housemate" for 7 years when she lived in Manhattan Beach outside of L.A. in the late 70's. They rented a house together and were one heart and one soul. I visited out there twice after the birth of my daughter.. once when she was only a few mos., and again when she was three. He was an executive with a major toy company, and he always brought her a special toy each evening when he came in from work. I still have the "turtle watch" he gave her. He was one of the finest people I have ever had the pleasure and privilege of knowing. My sister grieved for years at his passing.

The third was a common friend of both of theirs, who lived in S.F. Sis took me up to S.F. while I was visiting my first time with my then infant dtr. and we stayed at his house. I still have the photos of him holding my baby girl overlooking the Golden Gates and the Bay. I remember making audio tapes of support, hope, and prayer which I sent to him as he lay dying in the hospital years later.

I'll never forget these three fine gentleman... they had a profound impact on my life and my psyche.

Personally, I would LOVE to work with aids patients.

SmilingBluEyes · Dec 2, 2003

Thank you Tweety, you beat me to it.

I was quite young when ROCK HUDSON "came out" about his illness...and in shock. But he put a REAL HUMAN FACE on the illness/epidemic. And I have the ultimate respect for him to this day for it. It really made us aware ANYONE was subject, no one immune and all of us are human. It had to be the hardest thing in the world for him to do, given his status as a very MASCULINE star and being from a generation where one did NOT air his/her "dirty laundry" in public. I can't say enough how I respect and admire the man for doing this.

You know who else I admire more than Magic Johnson? Anyone remember Ryan White? The boy hemophiliac who suffered and died of AIDS---- but NOT before putting yet another HUMAN AND *INNOCENT* face on the epidemic? How brave was THAT to come out and tell the truth and try to educate a public still frenzied and afraid, a public still stigmatizing the disease? If you forgot about him here is a reminder:

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/8222/ryan.htm

There is also a biography about this brave young man : The Ryan White Story. I have this one on order for my son to read. I think it's inspirational.

WHAT A BRAVE, amazing human being. A boy who only wanted to live a normal life ----(such as go to school, imagine!)---- but was thrust into a world not of HIS making. Yet he made the best of it and he paved a way for others to legally pursue their rights such as BASIC EDUCATION and public services (which he was denied when his status was revealed). He and his family were threatened with their very LIVES during his struggles.

HE made people realize the disease was not a "gay issue" or one of "evil undertaking", but it was a disease that did NOT discriminate based on sexual preferences, social status, race/color, or other such categories on which we base so many of our prejudices. If you forgot who he is or want to be inspired to believe in our youth and future, please read his bio. I got teary just doing that today.

Anyhow, I think this is a great thread, kids-r-fun! thanks for reminding us it could be any of us,anytime, anywhere. HIV/AIDS is exacting a HUGE human toll and no end seems in sight. We cannot forget the HUMAN face behind the epidemic!