Nursing Care

Nursing Care

The development and progression of HIV /AIDS often presents nurses working at the bedside with two major challenges.

• First, HIV/AIDS increases the workload and skill demands of nurses.
• Second, HIV / AIDS burdens nurses with the psychological stress associated with the provision of palliative care to a sometimes large number of patients.

When coupled together these two factors often lead to cases of low morale and burn outs. (Tawfik and Kinoti 2006). Over time these factors may lead to the inadvertent delivery of nursing care that has become incompetent as a result of negative nursing attitudes and a lack of or poor application of nursing skills and knowledge. To help remedy this short coming, nursing experts developed the Essential Competencies for Nursing Related to HIV and AIDS²⁷.

Nursing competence is based on three fundamental elements of nursing, knowledge, skills and attitude. Knowledge includes the mental abilities and cognitive learning that results from didactic instructions and continued education and/or in-service education. Skills comprise the motor abilities to deliver care as well as the communicating and interacting abilities necessary to be a contributing member of a multidisciplinary team. Attitudes consist of the ability to use cognitive learning, to critically think in real life situations, and to make appropriate decisions on the spot. Incorporation of these elements into nursing care provides nurses with the essentials required to ensure that patients receive evidence based holistic care.

Nurses can play a key role at all stages of HIV infection

Nurses can play a key role with patients at all stages of HIV infection, including:

• Education on prevention, transmission, and symptoms
• Helping patients to manage side effects of HIV/AIDS as well as the side effects of drugs.
• Providing information to patients regarding drug interactions as well as information about complementary/alternative medicine.
• Monitoring patients on ARVs and supporting drug adherence.
• Providing care for those in the symptomatic stages of HIV.
• Providing palliative care for patients with HIV.

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