This week I have learned about HIV and how it affects my mother’s profession. I am currently visiting my mother in Florida, and I asked her some questions about how she has been affected by HIV. Her name is Robin, and she works in the operating room at a hospital in Volusia County. She is a certified RNFA, or a registered nurse first assist. I asked her if she has ever operated on someone who has had HIV, and she said yes, plenty of times. I asked if the nurses and doctors are notified before hand of the patient’s status, in order to protect themselves. She replied that they sometimes do know, and other times they do not. She said to think about all the people who have HIV and don’t even know it themselves. For this reason, she explains the vitality to use universal precaution. She said that not only was HIV common, but also Hepatitis C. She has operated on more people with Hepatitis C than with HIV.
I also asked my mother the question of the week, regarding letting your child go to a Halloween party. She said that she would still want her child to go to the party, because she wouldn’t want to deny that from her child. She wants them to socialize and have fun. However, she wouldn’t try to explain to her child the risks involved with a possible HIV+ playmate. A child at that age is too carefree, and wouldn’t understand the seriousness of the risk. For this reason, she would attend the party with her child. While there, she can monitor her own child, and keep them safe from possible danger. She would rather come off as an overprotected mother than allowing her child to go to the Halloween party alone.
After hearing my mother’s response to the question of the week, I thought her answer was a great one. I didn’t think of attending the party with my child. I thought I would talk to the parents of the child. My mom totally avoided bringing the HIV topic up and just took matters into her own hands in a silent safe way. *
Now let’s take a look at a fun fact for the week.
Did you know?
Su-I Hou, associate professor in the UGA College of Public Health, surveyed more than 500 students and found that they scored higher on general questions related to HIV and AIDS (82 percent correct) than items specifically related to HIV testing (72 percent correct).**
Ok it’s great that our students know about HIV, but they need to know more about testing! How do we expect them to go get tested and know their status, if they don’t have a decent amount of information on the testing itself! Yes, many know the fears and awful things that accompany HIV. Now lets teach them how to diminish it! Get tested, know your status.
**http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/08/27/study.reveals.gap.hiv.testing.knowledge.among.college.students
*Robin Harty. Personal Interview. 12 Oct. 2009.
I picked Russia as my foreign country. They used to not have any laws governing the privacy of HIV. In fact, they would publicly announce the names of people on the news as to embarass the infected and urge others to steer clear of risky lifestyles. However, in 1995, things drastically changed with the implementation of a new law.
"All information about an individual’s HIV test and its results is confidential. However, the Federal Law of 30 March 1995 does not ensure mandatory confidentiality. The confidentiality obligations of medical professionals and other persons who obtained HIV test information in the course of training or in the line of duty are regulated by the Fundamentals of Legislation of the Russian Federation on Protection of Citizens’ Health, of 22 July 1993. Article 61 of the Fundamentals specifies the list of situations in which confidential information can be communicated to third parties without the consent of the person concerned. One such situation refers to the danger of spreading infectious diseases " (HIVpolicy).
How does your mother feel about operating on a patient that is HIV, is she ever hesitant about starting a procedure? I also said the same thing about not telling my child about HIV, they are at a careless age everything you say basically goes in one ear and out the other, I think the whole statement " Whats sticky, wet and doesn't belong to you, DON'T TOUCH IT" little kids can understand that pretty well. I find that percentage of students knowing about HIV very interesting. When I first started this course I had only heard the words HIV/AIDS about 5 times my whole life.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you, educating individuals on the HIV virus is important but it is even more important to educate them on getting tested. Just because someone knows about the disease is of no help, unless they get tested that way they can see if they are infected and if so, notify others they have been sexually contacted to, shared needles with...and so on.
ReplyDeleteIt is very important to know how to prevent yourself from HIV as well.
Yes, I think if we could get a message out about how testing can be confidential and anonymous plus FREE more people would get tested. Knowing if your HIV positive or not is a key battle in the fight against HIV. One person maybe unsure about there status and then infect more people through unprocted sex. So lets hope that people are getting tested and using protion. What just makes my heart ache is when I hear these stories of people being infected by a loved one that knew they were HIV positive. I really just have a hard time thinking someone could be so manipulative. I consider that murder not attempted murder. It is using HIV as a weapon and forcing someone to deal with a deadly disease.
ReplyDeleteWhere is your research on a foreign country and their approach to HIV and confidentiality?
ReplyDeleteYou mother has the same attitude I do. Let kids be kids and keep an eye on them. As for operating on HIV positive people, it isn't any different than operating on people who are negative. As your mother stated, many don't even know themselves that they are positive, so they can't tell the doctor.