Nurses' experience of caring for people living with HIV: a focused ethnography

Abstract

Background Healthcare providers have been found to have limited knowledge and skills in interacting with people living with HIV. These factors can adversely affect providers' practice, jeopardize their safety and compromise the care of the patients. Aims This study aimed to explore the experiences of Iranian nurses who were caring for patients with HIV. Methods A focused ethnography approach was used. Participants consisted of 12 nurses working in teaching hospitals affiliated to Urmia University of Medical Sciences and recruited by purposeful sampling. Semi‐structured interviews, field observations and field notes were used for data collection. Data were analysed employing content analysis. Findings Three main themes emerged from the analysis of the participants' experiences of providing care to patients with HIV: ‘excessive fear of being infected’, ‘concerns about the possible consequences’ and ‘lack of self‐confidence in care provision’. Discussion/Conclusion Nurses have experienced a great deal of fear of self and cross‐contamination when providing care to people living with HIV. Social stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV amplified the nurses' experience of fear. Providing appropriate education and training for nurses can improve their attitudes, emotions and self‐confidence while providing care to such people and increasing the quality of care provided. Implications for Nursing and Health policy Planning more educational programmes focusing on improving their misunderstandings about HIV could result in positive outcomes: for nurses to provide high‐quality care and for people living with HIV who receive this care. The healthcare system should consider the culture of care provided by nurses to these people.

Explaining the Experiences of Operating Room Nurses From Surgery of Patients With Blood-Borne Diseases: A Phenomenological Study

“…The fear of being infected, which is one of the sub-themes of our study, shows the nurses' concern about getting infected, and they are more worried about transmitting it to others, especially their family members than they are worried about themselves. Mashallahi et al (24) found that the fear of getting sick and passing it on to others, especially family members, reduces the quality of care measures. This fear reduces the quality of care measures performed by them.…”

Student nurses’ perceptions and experiences in caring for people living with HIV/AIDS: a qualitative study

“…Healthcare providers are generally concerned about occupational exposure while caring for PLHWAs, particularly fear of needlestick injuries, which also aligns with previous findings [ 40 , 41 ]. Mashallahi and her colleagues [ 15 ] also concluded that nurses in Ulmia are constantly afraid of being infected with viruses while caring for patients, which may make healthcare providers hesitant to engage in providing care to PLWHAs and refuse to provide care [ 42 ]. Furthermore, "sense of duty" emerged as another category from the transcripts, consistent with Karuppiah's [ 43 ] findings.…”

“…Internationally, studies have revealed that seminar and virtual patient simulation activity focusing on PLWHAs can positively impact nursing students' attitudes [ 13 , 14 ]. Although nursing education programs have made great efforts over the past decade, and the proportion of healthcare providers unwilling to take care of patients with AIDS has declined, nursing practitioners still feel fear and tend to keep a distance from PLWHAs [ 15 , 16 ]. The underlying reasons why HIV and AIDS care occurs in the context of unfavorable nursing attitudes deserve to be futher explored.…”

Odnos in pripravljenost zaposlenih v zdravstveni negi za oskrbo pacientov s HIV/AIDS-om

“…Pacienti, ki živijo s HIV-om, se vsakodnevno borijo proti stigmi in diskriminaciji, vsakodnevno doživljajo strahove, ne le v povezavi z njihovim zdravjem, temveč z njihovo družbeno sprejemljivostjo. Zdravstveni delavci predstavljajo ključno vlogo pri nudenju skrbi omenjenim pacientom in v boju proti stigmi (Leyva-Moral, Gómez-Ibáñez, San Rafael, Guevara-Vásquez, & Aguayo-González, 2021), vendar družbena stigma in diskriminacija okuženih s HIV-om in obolelih z AIDS-om pri zdravstvenih delavcih povečuje strah za izvajanje zdravstvene nege (Mashallahi, 2021).…”

“…Ustrezna izobraževanja in usposabljanja medicinskih sester lahko bistveno izboljšajo njihov odnos, čustva in samozavest pri zagotavljanju kakovostne oskrbe okuženim s HIVom in obolelim z AIDS-om. Napačne predstave o HIV/AIDS-u lahko vplivajo na stališča in prakse medicinskih sester (Mashallahi, 2021).…”