Messages
The following campaign messages are aimed mainly at nursing staff working outside HIV and sexual health services, and at all members of the Royal College of Nursing. They have been endorsed by the National Aids Trust and the African HIV Policy Network.
- Where ever you provide care - and whatever your specialist area – you are now more likely than ever to care for HIV-positive people. Patients will often turn to nurses for help and advice not directly related to their treatment or HIV-related problems. So make sure you know the facts about HIV, what patients need and where other sources of support (such as charities and support groups) can be found.
- Without adequate treatment, care and support, HIV can be a fatal disease. However, the current drugs and the knowledge we have about HIV mean that we now have the ability to extend life, in common with other chronic diseases.
- People with HIV say they are often made to feel different by doctors, nurses and other health workers. Whether that stigma is real or perceived to be real makes no difference. The consequences are too important. Either way, we must do more to make every one of our services more sensitive to their needs.
- As a profession, we must continue working to prevent further infections with HIV in our communities, educating people about the risks of this disease.
- We need more and better links between HIV services, other clinical specialties and primary care to ensure people with HIV who have developed a secondary illness are given integrated quality care and expert support wherever they need it.