Community Nursing Practice
Nurses play an essential role in the community in the prevention of exposure to HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a global epidemic, and prevention of exposure to the disease among the populations at risk is key in dealing with the risks of HIV/AIDS. Nurses have skills in HIV prevention that the normal community members do not have. The government have come up with various strategies to prevent HIV/AIDS among community members. Nurses play a central role in these government-sponsored strategies in HIV prevention. Education about HIV/AIDS is a common practice employed by many nurses all over the world in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. With the increased perception of HIV/AIDS as a nursing disease, nurses make important contributions towards the prevention of HIV/AIDS disease.
Nurses prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS from one individual to another by educating the community members on the modes of HIV/AIDS transmission. Sensitizing the community members on the methods of HIV/AIDS transmission plays a vital role in preventing the spread of HIV. Nurses are aware of the methods that cause many patients to contract HIV/AIDS disease. Many people in the world living with HIV/AIDS disease have acquired the HIV virus from sexual immorality (Rushing, 2018). Nurses are aware that HIV virus is commonly transmitted from one person to another through vaginal and anal sexual intercourse. Some individuals believe that the HIV/AIDS disease is a curse. Failure to understand how the HIV virus is transmitted from one person to another causes many people to expose themselves in unprotected sex, hence contracting the HIV. Nurses educate individuals on how immoral sexual behaviors results in the transmission of the HIV. The youths are among the populations at risk of suffering from the HIV/AIDS disease. Nurses educate students in schools through various programs about sexual behaviors that cause HIV transmission. Many youths have been sensitized by nurses on how unprotected sexual intercourse results on HIV/AIDS transmission. The sensitization has caused many teenagers to abstain from sex, which helps in the prevention of exposure to HIV/AIDS disease. Nurses educate individuals on the importance of undergoing through the HIV/AIDS testing.
Nurses encourage the population to be involved in regular HIV/AIDS testing practice. Many people in the community still fear to be tested for their HIV status. People who refuse to be tested for their HIV/AIDS status argue that they can be easily be discriminated by their fellow friends when they are found to be HIV positive. Nurses teach the community members that being infected by the HIV is not the end of life. Also, nurses have recently embarked in the program of educating people on the adverse effects of discriminating people living with HIV/AIDS. The program has resulted in improvements in how community members interact with people living with the HIV, which encourages many people to participate in the process of HIV/AIDS testing. Also, nurses have taught individuals on HIV/AIDS testing methods that allows clients to know their HIV status on their own without physician involvement for confidentiality purpose (Greensides, 2016). Education has encouraged many people to undertake the HIV/AIDS testing process. Knowing one’s HIV status is a critical step towards preventing the transmission of HIV. Individuals who find that they are HIV negative after the testing process avoids the behaviors that cause the transmission of HIV because they need to remain HIV negative. People who find that they are HIV positive after the testing restrict themselves from unprotected sex with their partners, which prevents the transmission of HIV among partners. Nurses encourage individuals to know their HIV status, which is critical in the prevention of transmission of HIV from one individual to another. Nurses provide the Pre-exposure prophylaxis to the youth and educate the youth on the importance of the pre-exposure prophylaxis.
Government programs on HIV/AIDS prevention require that nurses educate HIV negative individuals on the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Use of PrEP is a modern method of HIV/AIDS prevention that has been found to be very effective. The PrEP reduces the chances of transmitting HIV from one person to another during sexual intercourse even if one partner is infected with HIV. The younger population in the colleges and universities are easily involved in irregular sexual activities because of influence from their friends. Nurses have identified that younger population are vulnerable to contracting HIV through sexual behaviors. To prevent the youth in schools from contradicting HIV, nurses educate the youth in schools on the use of PrEP. The young population has a big urge to being involved in unprotected sex, and therefore the use of PrEP helps them from contradicting HIV. For the PrEP to be effective, all the prescriptions have to be adhered by the clients (Thaden, 2018). Nurses educate the young population through college programs on the correct time, and healthy means in use of the pre-exposure prophylaxis, which helps the youth from contracting HIV when they are involved in unprotected sex. Use of condoms is a method that has been employed in the prevention of HIV/AIDS transmission.
Nurses educate the populations at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS on the correct use of condoms. Condoms have been medically proven as useful in the prevention of HIV transmission. Different types of condoms exist in the modern world, and nurses play an important role in educating citizens on how to effectively use condoms (Stone, 2018). A condom is a type of physical barrier that prevents the movement of sexual fluids from one individual to another during the process of sexual intercourse. When not properly worn, condoms may allow the flow of the sexual fluids among the partners during sexual intercourse hence allowing the transmission of the HIV. Nurses have come with programs to educate members of the community on the correct use of the condoms. The programs enable the nurses to gather the community members and educate them on how to wear a condom before the sexual activity properly. Some community members’ belief that the use of more than one condom during sexual intercourse is an effective method in preventing the transmission of HIV. Nurses have established that this belief is a misconception that puts sex partners in the danger of contracting HIV during sexual intercourse activity. Nurses play a critical role in clearing the misconception and other myths surrounding the use of condoms in the community, which helps in reducing HIV transmission by educating members of the community on the correct use of the condoms. Nurses also avail condoms to the members of the community by organizing condom supply strategies. When patients visit medical centers, nurses provide them with condoms. Nurses organizations have also come up with programs that ensure that there is always a constant supply of condoms in public places, which helps in the prevention of HIV/AIDS disease. Nurses support the programs that restrict communities from cultural practices that expose individuals to the risk of contracting HIV.
Nurses play an important role in supporting government programs that are tailored towards the eradication of poor and unnecessary cultural practices in society. Some unnecessary cultural practices include the Female Genital Mutilation. Female Genital Mutilation is the removal of female genital external parts for non-medical purposes. In communities where Female Genital Circumcision is practiced, elderlies who do not have any education about health carry out the process of circumcising the young girls (Goldberg, 2016). The same circumcision tool is used in the practice for more than one girl, which puts the girls in these communities in the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS disease. Nurses have supported all the government programs that are geared towards total abolishment of Female Genital Mutilation. Nurses organizations have established programs that allow for the education of members of the community on the adverse effects of Female Genital Mutilation. Nurses also advocate for the young girls who are forced in the practice of Female Genital Mutilation. The nurses’ programs on the abolishment of Female Genital Mutilation have beard fruits because in the modern world only a few communities practice the Female Genital Mutilation. Female Genital Mutilation and some other unethical cultural practices expose young girls in the risk of HIV. Therefore, nurses’ programs in the abolishment of Female Genital Mutilation have contributed to the prevention of HIV/AIDS by a significant percentage. Sexually Transmitted Infections puts individuals in the risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.
Treatment and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections is one of the primary health care nursing roles in the prevention of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Common Sexually Transmitted Infections include gonorrhea, syphilis, and chlamydia. Nurses have established that individuals with these Sexually Transmitted Infections are at great risk of contracting the HIV virus because of the viruses in their blood cells (Bachmann, 2017). Therefore, prevention and proper treatment of Sexually Transmitted Infections helps in prevention of transmission of the HIV virus from one person to another. In the prevention of the Sexually Transmitted Infections, nurses educate members of the community on the causes and the means to avoid the causes of Sexually Transmitted Infections. Nurses encourage individuals to avoid the behavior of having more than one sexual partner because multiple sex partners cause individuals to suffer from Sexually Transmitted Infections easily. Many young school girls also suffer from Sexually Transmitted Infections because they lack adequate knowledge on how to keep their genital parts clean and free from any germs. Nurses educate students on hygienical practices that help students to keep their private parts clean, hence preventing the possibility of contracting Sexually Transmitted Infections during sexual intercourse. Also, it has been found that forced sexual intercourse can easily cause Sexually Transmitted Infection to the raped partner. Nurses advocates for young girls in the community who are raped. Also, nurses have established hotlines where rape incidents can easily be reported and responded to, which has helped to reduce Sexually Transmitted Infections by reducing rape cases. Methods being used by nurses in the treatment and prevention of Sexually Transmitted Infections are critical in the prevention of HIV/AIDS. Nurses play a crucial role in preventing the transmission of HIV from infected mothers to Small babies during birth and breastfeeding.
Informing HIV-infected women on methods that protect their babies from contracting HIV is an important role played by nurses in the prevention of HIV/AIDS disease. Nurses assist pregnant women during pregnancy, during birth, and after birth in various ways. Nurses identify pregnant women who are living with HIV for the proper intervention that can protect the fetus from contracting HIV from HIV-infected mothers (Wambach, 2016). Adherence to antiretroviral treatment prevents mother-child HIV transmission during the pregnancy period. Nurses prescribe HIV-infected pregnant mothers to antiretroviral medication and also encourages the mothers to strictly adhere to the medication, which prevents HIV transmission from mother to the unborn baby. HIV can be easily transmitted from infected mother to the child during the childbirth. Some mothers with low viral load can deliver through vaginal birth without transmitting HIV to the baby. However, some HIV-infected women require to deliver their babies through caesarean birth to prevent the transfer of HIV from the infected mother to the child. Nurses play an important role in identifying HIV pregnant mothers who can deliver through vaginal delivery without transmitting HIV to the baby. Also, nurses determine the HIV-infected mothers who require the caesarean method of giving birth to prevent virus transfer from the HIV-infected mother to the child during childbirth. Breast milk contains HIV, and the virus can easily be transmitted from the mother to the child during breastfeeding. Nurses educate mothers on safe breastfeeding practices that protect the baby from contracting HIV during the breastfeeding process, which helps in the prevention of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
In conclusion, nurses play a vital role in the prevention of transmission of HIV among the risk populations. Nurses are trained in various health care roles that help in the prevention of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Sexual immoralities have been identified as the primary cause of transmission of HIV from one infected person to another person who is not infected from HIV. Nurses educate the members of the community on safe methods of doing sex. Nurses inform people on the correct techniques of using condoms during sex, which helps in reducing the transfer of HIV from one person to another. Nurses provide HIV/AIDS education to the community members to eradicate all the myths and misconceptions surrounding the HIV/AIDS disease. Pre-exposure prophylaxis education by nurses has helped many youths from contracting HIV during unsafe sex. Identification of pregnant women who are living with HIV enables the nurses to prescribe interventions that protect the babies from contracting HIV from their infected mothers. Nurses have encouraged many people to undergo through the HIV testing process, which has effectively reduced the transmission of the HIV virus.
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References
Bachmann, L. H. (2017). Sexually Transmitted Infections in HIV-Infected Adults and Special Populations. Springer International Publishing:.
Goldberg, H., Stupp, P., Okoroh, E., Besera, G., Goodman, D., & Danel, I. (2016). Female genital mutilation/cutting in the United States: updated estimates of women and girls at risk, 2012. Public Health Reports, 131(2), 340-347.
Greensides, D. R., Berkelman, R., Lansky, A., & Sullivan, P. S. (2016). Alternative HIV testing methods among populations at high risk for HIV infection. Public health reports.
Rushing, W. A. (2018). The AIDS epidemic: Social dimensions of an infectious disease. Routledge.
Stone, N., Graham, C., Anstee, S., Brown, K., Newby, K., & Ingham, R. (2018). Enhancing condom use experiences among young men to improve correct and consistent condom use: feasibility of a home-based intervention strategy (HIS-UK). Pilot and feasibility studies, 4(1), 63.
Thaden, J., Gandhi, M., Kuncze, K., Louie, A., Okochi, H., Hurt, C. B., & McKellar, M. S. (2018, March). Seroconversion on PrEP: a protocol for untangling adherence vs resistance failure. In Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections. MA, USA (pp. 4-7).
Wambach, K., & Riordan, J. (Eds.). (2016). Breastfeeding and human lactation. Jones & Bartlett Learning.