Attitudes, beliefs, and practices of nursing students concerning HIV/AIDS: implications for prevention in women

Nursing students are a group of predominantly young women who may be sexually active but who are well educated and presumably health conscious. It might be expected, therefore, that they are not a population at risk for sexually acquired HIV infection. Recent studies indicate that heterosexual women constitute the fastest growing population of persons with AIDS in the United States and Canada (Health and Welfare Canada, 1993b; Wofsky, 1992) and that women and adolescents will constitute the next surge of the AIDS epidemic (Novello, 1993). First-year nursing students in a major Canadian city were surveyed regarding HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. The women were highly knowledgeable about HIV transmission but 15% to 25% reported high risk sexual behavior. The results reinforce that knowledge is not enough to prevent HIV infection among young women and that interventions must be based on an understanding of the social context of women's lives.     

New Mexico women with no prenatal care: reasons, outcomes, and nursing implications

A retrospective chart review was conducted to determine why women received no prenatal care during pregnancy and their subsequent maternal and neonatal outcomes. Five hundred and eighty medical records from 1990 through 1993 that were labeled as no care were reviewed. Actually, only 270 records had no care and of these, 92 had 156 recorded reasons as to why women did not receive prenatal care. These reasons were categorized into three types of barriers: attitudinal, sociodemographic, and system-related. The majority of the women were young, Hispanic, unmarried, between 20 and 29 years of age, and uninsured, and had one to three children. Overall, the women did not smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, or use drugs during pregnancy. Overall, the women had good maternal and newborn outcomes. Results suggest a need to reevaluate the effect of prenatal care use on young Hispanic women.     

The Filipino elder: implications for nursing practice. Knowledge of heritage essential

1. Ethnic identity is an important variable in health promotion and care. Knowledge of cultural heritage is necessary to assess the unique needs of the individual. 2. Culture affects how one perceives and defines the meaning of illness. In turn, the way in which one defines the meaning of an illness will influence the expectations of both caregivers and clients within the nurse-client relationship. 3. Broadening our understanding of a diverse ethnic population is central to the concept of transcultural nursing. The importance of understanding differences in cultural heritage cannot be ignored by the nurse who cares for a new elderly Filipino immigrant.     

Women, sex, and HIV: Social and contextual factors, meta-analysis of published interventions, and implications for practice and research.

This article is focused on examining social and contextual factors related to HIV-risk behavior for women. Specifically, this article has three main purposes: to review the literature on selected social and contextual factors that contribute to the risk for the heterosexual transmission of HIV and AIDS, to review and conduct a meta-analysis of HIV-prevention interventions targeting adult heterosexual populations, and to suggest future directions for HIV-prevention intervention research and practice. Results suggest that the HIV-prevention interventions reviewed for this article had little impact on sexual risk behavior, that social and contextual factors are often minimally addressed, and that there was a large gap between research and the practice of HIV-prevention intervention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prevalence of infection with HIV among the seriously mentally ill: Review of research and implications for practice.

The authors review the research literature for estimates of the prevalence of HIV infection among the seriously mentally ill. Data from nine studies suggest that 4%–23% of the seriously mentally ill have been infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Men have been infected at a higher rate than have women, but this gender difference is less pronounced than that found in the general population. Because most of these blinded seroprevalence studies have been conducted in New York City, the representativeness of these results remains unknown. Nonetheless, the findings call attention to the need for enhanced HIV-related services for the seriously mentally ill. The authors provide screening and counseling guidelines for practitioners who work with seriously mentally ill clients. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Painful stimulus: absorbing and assimilating grief and loss in HIV nursing practice

To explore grief and loss in nursing care, it is not enough to touch upon it as an occupational hazard to be dealt with. It is also necessary to touch upon our feelings. Internal emotions motivate our external reactions and motivations. They also teach us and guide us. Our reactions, both short-term and long-term, may be both positive and negative. In either case, we need to understand these feelings in order to continue in a positive way within our personal and professional lives.     

Assessment and psychotherapy practice implications of new combination antiviral therapies for HIV disease.

New combination antiviral regimens that include protease inhibitors have created heightened levels of optimism about the future of HIV-related health care as well as new challenges with important implications for mental health intervention. Emerging issues in HIV-related mental health treatment are described herein, and strategies for assessment and psychotherapy are outlined, highlighting ways to address newly emerging themes in clinical practice. Clinical evaluation and therapeutic intervention specific to psychological adjustment, antiviral treatment adherence, access to care, HIV risk behavior, and central nervous system functioning are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Tetanus: critical implications for nursing

In the United States today, tetanus is a rare disease. However, when it occurs, it can be a highly challenging situation for all members of the healthcare team. The majority of care during the course of the disease is supportive. The availability of personnel trained in managing cardiorespiratory emergencies and sustained mechanical ventilation in the ICU environment can have a beneficial effect on patients' outcomes. An awareness of the potential complications of tetanus can hasten recovery and maintain the patient's preexisting quality of life.     

Psychologists' and physical interventions: Ethics, standards, and legal implications.

Reviews the American Psychological Association's (1981) Ethical Principles of Psychologists and its (1980) Specialty Guidelines for the Delivery of Services by Clinical Psychologists, highlighting the special concerns the documents raise for professionals using physical interventions (PIs). The legal and regulatory frameworks for the practice of psychology are reviewed with significant emphasis on professional negligence. The steps that a conscientious and cautious practitioner should take when using PIs are analyzed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Assisted suicide: implications for nurses and nursing

Assisted suicide is an issue of great importance to nurses. This issue reflects our values and beliefs as a society, calls for a clear and precise response as a profession, and challenges individual nurses to think about their own moral views. The history of the debate and the compelling moral arguments on both sides attest to the complexity of the issue and also suggest that it will not soon be resolved. The current position of the profession, as expressed in the ANA Code for Nurses and a specific position statement, were reviewed. The dilemma faced by the individual nurse who perceives an obligation to adhere to the guidelines specified by his or her profession's code and yet whose conscience dictates an act in violation of this code has been discussed as an instance of conscientious objection. While this analysis has been necessarily brief, it was intended to illustrate the importance of being clear about one's personal moral views and equally clear about one's duty to fulfil the obligations stemming from the profession's public statements. It is essential that the profession continue to explore the moral issues involved in requests for assistance in dying and provide additional guidelines for practicing nurses, with sound rationale for the profession's position.     

Renal physiology series: Part 6 of 8. The aging kidney: structure, function, and nursing practice implications

The effects of normal aging on the kidney are both structural and functional. Morphologic changes involve the renal blood vessels, glomeruli, tubules, and interstitium. Physiologic changes include alterations in renal plasma flow, glomerular filtration rate, filtration fraction, tubular transport, concentrating ability, acidification, the renal handling of electrolytes, and patterns of urine flow and electrolyte excretion. The structural and functional changes that occur in the senescent kidney, and the implications for nursing practice are discussed.     

Applying a feminist analysis model to selected nursing studies of women with HIV

Women's mental health has been linked to oppression and to oppressive practices in health care. Feminist approaches to health care delivery and research have been suggested as a remedy for the subtle and overt oppression faced by women, and many nurses have used feminist principles to conduct and report their research and to critique existing studies. Though nursing authors have identified useful feminist guides for conducting and reporting research, few examples of the practice of feminist critiques of research are available in the nursing literature. This analysis synthesizes and adapts feminist principles from nursing literature and presents a feminist model to review selected nursing research reports of women with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A convenience sample of eight articles from nursing journals was examined for statements or implications that the author(s) (a) perceived the purposes of the study as benefiting women, (b) demonstrated an awareness of the structures and policies that oppress women, (c) were sensitive to issues of diversity, (d) were committed to social change, and (e) recognized the female participants' strengths. The selected articles were found to meet many of the feminist criteria, although these principles were not always explicitly addressed in the articles.     

Psychosocial factors associated with the stages of change for condom use among women at risk for HIV and STDs: implications for intervention development

This study examined the prevalence of consistent condom use among inner-city women at risk for HIV, measured the distribution of these women across the stages of change for condom use, determined psychosocial factors associated with the stages, and suggested intervention strategies based on the results. The 5-city sample of women aged 15-34 years consisted predominantly of African Americans. Only 18% reported consistent condom use with main partners and 45% with other partners. Logistic regressions compared women in each stage of change with those in higher stages for each partner type. Results indicated that women who practice or intend to practice consistent condom use were more likely to talk with others about condoms, acknowledge the advantages of condoms, have higher self-efficacy for condom use, and indicate that people important to them favored condom use. Intervention approaches are suggested for women in different stages of change for condom use.     

Nutrition in infancy: implications for practice

The aim of the present study was to assess selective atrophy of the temporal lobe and amygdala in the early stages of Alzheimer dementia (AD). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements and the presence of highsignal lesions (HSL) were analysed in 31 patients with mild to moderate probable AD and 22 controls. In the AD group, MRI findings were compared with cognitive variables and specific features of memory functions. Alzheimer patients showed a significant reduction in volumetric measurement compared with controls in the total volume (P < 0.01), temporal lobe (P < 0.01) and amygdala (P < 0.05). The temporal lobe/brain volume ratio was also significantly reduced in AD subjects (P < 0.05). Atrophy of temporal structures was significantly related to the degree of episodic and semantic memory impairment according to a material-specific effect. No significant correlations between amygdala and cognitive variables were found. The results of our study confirm the usefulness of measures of temporal lobe atrophy assessed with MRI in the diagnosis of AD. In contrast, HSL are relatively common in AD patients (12/31 cases) and were not related to volumetric findings, severity of dementia or functional disability.