Protecting the patient already died does not make any sense!

Nurses General Nursing

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My patients was HIV+ and he died during a central line insertion...

It is tragic...but that is another story.

What upset me the most is....his future wife came to the unit and she is pregnant. We the nurses are not allowed to share that confidential information with his future wife.... It does not make any sense at all.

What do you think about this....Does it make any sense to you at all?

Shouldn't we let that girl know that her future husband was HIV+....

Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.
Why do you assume the fiancee doesn't know he was positive? I'm sure she suspected something during his lengthy decline. And why do you assume that she is "totally innocent"? What, he's guilty of something?

"Lengthy decline?"

You were not there...why are you assuming that this is a lengthy decline!

How many patients who are HIV+ and still look very normal.

Remember that there was a case in Upstate New York...this guy looks very normal and he had sex with 21 girls...he knew he was HIV+...

As a normal and fair person, don't you think you should think twice before having a baby...so...he is guilty...at least for not thinking twice...and no consideration for another human being...oh....it is two human being in this case...

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Specializes in cardiac.

Big ethical dilemma here. But, as someone mentioned before, there are laws concerning the disclosure of this info to protect the HIV positive person's partner. It is scary to think that his fiance is pregnant and there is the possiblity that she and her child have been exposed to HIV.

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Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.
No, according to the law you can't tell her. But what makes you think (or know) that she didn't already know? And, you OB nurses out there-isn't HIV something that preggo ladies are routinely tested for these days, as we were tested for syphylis and gonorrhea back in the 70's?

Common sense...

If your future husband gave you the virus...why would you go to the hospital to see him....the guy is giving you the disease which requires you to swallow a lot of pills that have a lot of side effects....making you suffering!

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Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.
I have probably read too many novels in my lifetime. I can see all sorts of possibilities in the couple's history that may be unknown to anyone but them. Like maybe she got pregnant by someone else and he offered to 'make her an honorable woman' as they used to say. Or they knew about his HIV status and had invitro fertilization from an anonymous sperm donor trying to have a family in hopes of hubbies long term survival. Toooo many unknowns from the sounds of things. There is a system in place in most states for dealing with STD's, notifying partners, etc. I haven't seen anything in this thread yet that says whether or not the regulatory agencies are or are not involved? Your compassion and desire to help is so admirable! It's hard to let things go that grab at your heart strings when you just want to help.

In our area, no fancy way to have a baby...it is a city hospital covering mainly the poor neighborhoods...a lot a patients with hep C and HIV+.....

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Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.

The main point is...it is not what you see in the T.V.

Some doctors are good...while some are no good..

If you wait for the doctors to initiate an action...sometimes it is going to be too late for anything....

Nurses should be able to do more....

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Pregnant women don't get routinely tested for HIV. It's an option, but it seems like very few women take advantage of it.

I'd suggest getting your hospital ethics committee involved. They should be the ones handeling this situation so you don't feel burdened by it.

Does your hospital offer employee assistance? If so, perhaps you could talk to someone about the inner turmoil you are going through.

My OB's office had a routine practice of testing all pregnant women for all sexually transmitted diseases, and it was a policy of the practice. HIV, herpes, everything.

That's a good thing...a good doctor should be fully aware of anything that may crop up, to elect for a c-section to protect the infant if necessary.

In the rural area that I live in, women come into the hospital alot to give birth with zero prenatal care...very scary thought.

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

Out of curiosity, what was the official cause of death listed on the death certificate? I hope this woman does know; it is horrifying to know how dramatically she could reduce the risk to her unborn child but might not be doing so if she doesn't realize she's been exposed.

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Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.
Out of curiosity, what was the official cause of death listed on the death certificate? I hope this woman does know; it is horrifying to know how dramatically she could reduce the risk to her unborn child but might not be doing so if she doesn't realize she's been exposed.

They were not married...so...she has no right/access to the death certificate.

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They were not married...so...she has no right/access to the death certificate.

I thought that death certificates were public information? Along with birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc. People doing geneology searches, tabloid websites pulling them up on celebrities, etc...I think all you have to do is list a reason of why you are seeking it.

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They were not married...so...she has no right/access to the death certificate.

Deaths, to my knowledge, are public record, and I think access to them (and lengths you may have to go to to get a copy of one) is individually controlled by the state/commonwealth.

I would think - especially since this woman is pregnant - this would fall under "duty to warn". I'm not saying it does, I'm just saying you would think it would. To me, it's no different than if he'd told his care team he was going to kill his fiance/girlfriend/whatever and they had every reason to believe he'd do it. You have to report that. You should have to tell a pregnant woman her partner was HIV+.

Sometimes ethics has to win out. If she doesn't know he was HIV+, she's pregnant and has every right to know. I don't know that pregnant women are routinely tested; I don't think you can test someone for HIV unless you have their consent to do so (at least here in NC I believe I'm right).

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Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
They were not married...so...she has no right/access to the death certificate.

Oh yeah, I forgot you said they weren't married. Still, wouldn't you think that if they were engaged she'd have enough of a relationship with his next of kin to see the death certificate? She might be a bit curious what caused his death.

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Specializes in Nurses who are mentally sicked.

That patient went into a cardiac arrest after the central line was inserted.

So...the cause of death would not be anything related to HIV+

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