HIV+ residents

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[color=sandybrown]i work in a nursing facilitity in oklahoma, and there is a resident who is hiv positive. every time i go into the residents room my hands start to shake. but does the care that i give to the resident give me a greater chance to contract the hiv virus? or do i have the right to refuse certain care? and even though we wear gloves and gowns is that enough? should face masks be worn? i'm not sure what to think about all of this, so i surfed the web and it said that we could get it from un-chewed food! i mean the resident spits the food out after chewing it. please help!

Specializes in EMS, ER, GI, PCU/Telemetry.
[color=sandybrown]i work in a nursing facilitity in oklahoma, and there is a resident who is hiv positive. every time i go into the residents room my hands start to shake. but does the care that i give to the resident give me a greater chance to contract the hiv virus? or do i have the right to refuse certain care? and even though we wear gloves and gowns is that enough? should face masks be worn? i'm not sure what to think about all of this, so i surfed the web and it said that we could get it from un-chewed food! i mean the resident spits the food out after chewing it. please help!

unless you are planning on having unprotected sex with this patient, rubbing your open wounds into his open wounds, or giving yourself a blood transfusion with his blood, standard precautions are enough and you will not contract the hiv virus from being in his room.

if you are doing a procedure that involves blood or body fluids, or recapping a needle (which you shouldnt do anyway), use extra ppe and use extra caution.

if the patient spits, put a mask on him and wear goggles. saliva contains a less than 1% chance of contracting the hiv virus and it has to contain blood and enter an open sore.

please do some better research on hiv before you refuse to give this man the care he deserves. you cant get the virus from being in this man's room.

from the cdc website:

hiv transmission can occur when blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, lady partsl fluid, or breast milk from an infected person enters the body of an uninfected person.

hiv can enter the body through a vein (e.g., injection drug use), the lining of the orifice or rectum, the lining of the lady parts and/or cervix, the opening to the member, the mouth, other mucous membranes (e.g., eyes or inside of the nose), or cuts and sores. intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against hiv and other viruses and bacteria.

these are the most common ways that hiv is transmitted from one person to another:

  • by having sex (anal, lady partsl, or oral) with an hiv-infected person;
  • by sharing needles or injection equipment with an injection drug user who is infected with hiv; or
  • from hiv-infected women to their babies before or during birth, or through breast-feeding after birth.

hiv also can be transmitted through receipt of infected blood or blood clotting factors. however, since 1985, all donated blood in the united states has been tested for hiv. therefore, the risk of infection through transfusion of blood or blood products is extremely low. the u.s. blood supply is considered to be among the safest in the world.

hiv is not transmitted casually, so kissing on the cheek is very safe. even if the other person has the virus, your unbroken skin is a good barrier. no one has become infected from such ordinary social contact as dry kisses, hugs, and handshakes.

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I too have worked many years (19) in HIV/AIDS and have never even once been at risk for infection. Standard precautions are plenty. There have only been a few hundred health care workers in the United States that have been infected with HIV through a blood exposure. I'm sure many more health care workers have died on their way to work in a car accident yet we don't fear going to work. It's all in prespective.

The pre chewed food comes to us from Africa. This has been a common practice in some remote areas that don't have baby or processed food. There has been some transmission found when HIV positive moms prechew their babies food. Probably from mouth sores in both mom and babe. Very sad and quite preventable. I believe there is an initiative going in some areas to prevent this.

In the meantime.....there is much to learn from our patients. I encourage you to face your fears and find wisdom.

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Specializes in Assisted Living, Med-Surg/CVA specialty.

Maybe I'M ignorant in thinking that we've reached a period of time where people realize HOW HIV is transmitted, and when I read the original post, I thought the poster was a troll. :uhoh3:

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No, actually I'm not a troll. In fact I am 18 years old who grew up in a little rinky dink yown and didnt know much. All I knew was that from movies and such. And I want to thank those of you who did help me and answer my questions. But for the ones who were rude or whatever, u didnt have to make a remark. I came to this website thinking that it would help me. It also said that there was no stupid questions and im sorry if you thought that mine was. But atleast now I know what exactly is going on and what I should do. But again thank you to those who gave me the CDC websites and educated more a little more on the HIV virus.

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No, actually I'm not a troll. In fact I am 18 years old who grew up in a little rinky dink yown and didnt know much. All I knew was that from movies and such. And I want to thank those of you who did help me and answer my questions. But for the ones who were rude or whatever, u didnt have to make a remark. I came to this website thinking that it would help me. It also said that there was no stupid questions and im sorry if you thought that mine was. But atleast now I know what exactly is going on and what I should do. But again thank you to those who gave me the CDC websites and educated more a little more on the HIV virus.

mo honey, when i read your 1st post, my immediate thoughts were you lived in an area where you don't hear much about hiv.

your question was NOT stupid, and don't let anyone have you think otherwise.

do read the cdc sites and educate yourself.

if you want more sites to read/learn, let me know and i'll pull more for you.

this is the only way you can conquer this fear.

wishing you the very best of everything.

leslie

leslie

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No, actually I'm not a troll. In fact I am 18 years old who grew up in a little rinky dink yown and didnt know much. All I knew was that from movies and such. And I want to thank those of you who did help me and answer my questions. But for the ones who were rude or whatever, u didnt have to make a remark. I came to this website thinking that it would help me. It also said that there was no stupid questions and im sorry if you thought that mine was. But atleast now I know what exactly is going on and what I should do. But again thank you to those who gave me the CDC websites and educated more a little more on the HIV virus.

Please don't feel that any question you have asked is not worthy of this nursing forum.

I will be honest that I am always shocked when I realize the general public is still somewhat limited in their education about HIV. Use this opportunity to educate yourself about HIV, and you will be an asset to your facility,

your patients, and the family members!:redbeathe

BTW-are you a CNA?

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No stupid questions. You are educating yourself and everyone needs to do that. Use standard precautions and if this pt spits food at you then I would even go so far to wear a mask with eye guards. If it offends th e pt then maybe he shouldn't spit.

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No stupid questions. You are educating yourself and everyone needs to do that. Use standard precautions and if this pt spits food at you then I would even go so far to wear a mask with eye guards. If it offends th e pt then maybe he shouldn't spit.

hmmm...(in reference to where i bolded)

maybe you haven't heard of aids-related dementia?

i have no idea if this particular pt has it, but it is very common for late-stage aids pts to have remarkable encephalopathies, that grossly impacts their cognition and mental status.

very tragic.

leslie

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
hmmm...(in reference to where i bolded)

maybe you haven't heard of aids-related dementia?

i have no idea if this particular pt has it, but it is very common for late-stage aids pts to have remarkable encephalopathies, that grossly impacts their cognition and mental status.

very tragic.

leslie

The OP said he has some brain involvement so this is very likely, imo.

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"""""Think of how many people have HIV, but not full blown aids,""""""

There is no such thing as Full Blown AIDS.

There sure used to be.

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