Isolation for AIDS patients who are bleeding

I can understand your frustration Tweety. Not to sound lax or sloppy (I do follow UP with everyone) my personal feelings have always been "if I'm not having sex or shooting dope with them (HIV+ persons) I don't have a whole lot to worry about".

I guess my answer to isolation depends on how able to "comply" with limiting potential transmittion the patient is.
I suppose I could see isolating the patient in a few very specific circumstances like: if they are confused and could smear blood on surfaces (there is a miniscule risk of someone touching the blood with an open wound within the very narrow time frame the virus remains alive). Or if they are agitated and could scratch someone with blood contaminated nails.

Otherwise the only reason I can see for isolation is to protect the patient from the nasty bugs that can run rampant in hospitals and then only if the would was open to air.

Every 2 years to be relicensed, every Florida nurse must take an HIV update, and the BON audits contuing education.

I would dress the open area. End of Story.

LORDY LORDY, what would we do in OB where we literally *Wade* in blood in so many deliveries??? We have had HIV positive patients deliver where I am and we treat them with the SAME universal precautions as all the rest.....as far as we are concerned they are ALL POSITIVE for intents and purposes.....

I think putting a person who has wounds in isolation is excessive...and wasteful,if the only thing he has going is HIV pos status...... IF we are USING UNIVERSAL precautions, why should there be a problem here?

Good job, Tweets. As always.

Added to note... we wouldn't even put our HIV pos dialysis patients in isolation ! And there's a LOT of blood contact/blood splashes in dialysis. We've not HAD any HIV pos. pts., but our policy is such that they would NOT require isolation. Hep. B and TB only.

Tweety is in LTC and the biggest problem is staff education...generally we are talking about people with little education and great prejudices that can be very difficult to overcome...

Tweety, I will send you something you can bring to your facility in a pm.