Good From HIV/AIDS?

Volume 24, Number 1 January-March 2007

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GOING DEEPER

Personal or group study ideas.
Read the articles, choose your questions!

God Redeeming HIV/AIDS?
Read Tazelaar, pp. 8-14.
a. Recall a specific patient with HIV/AIDS. What feelings does this memory evoke? Did you sense God caring through you as you cared for this patient? How?
b. Read "Does ABC Work?", pp. 12.What has been your experience, if any, when providing this type of information to patients? What has been the general response? Why do you think that may be?
c. Do you view God as redeeming HIV/AIDS? Share your thoughts.
d. Compare and contrast AIDS in North America and AIDS in Africa.

Ethical Disagreements:
Read Salladay, pp. 38.
a. How can nurses avoid becoming disillusioned in the face of painful, ethical dilemmas?
b. Which, if any, biblical references help you? Share an example.

Holding Out Hope:
Read Diggins,pp. 30-31 and FAQs, pp. 42.
a. Read Proverbs 13:12;Acts 2:26. How can nurses help offer hope to patients? What evidence of hope is seen in a patient's demeanor?
b. Read Romans 5:5.When a patient is facing terminal illness, compare and contrast the difference you've seen in patients with and without hope.

Advocacy Roles for Parish Nurses:
Read Patterson, pp. 33-35.
a. For whom can you be a healthcare advocate? Locate a local parish nurse and ask how you can support his or her work.

(Select the article title to view a summary.)

5 A Nagging Thought - Editorial

8 Good Out of HIV/AIDS?
Grace Tazelaar

HIV/AIDS has ravaged Africa since its discovery 25 years ago. Has anything positive come from the disease? This missionary nurse who served on the forefront of the pandemic in Uganda when HIV was emerging things so. Read profound lessons God taught her.

14 A Primer on HIV/AIDS
A JCN Resource Article

Learn about the history of HIV/AIDS, how HIV replicates, and antiretroviral therapy.

19 Glimpses of HIV/AIDS Around the Globe
Eithne Keegan

Encounter HIV/AIDS in Africa, India, Thailand, and China with a nurse working to make a difference. Discover with her that although there is much evil, God is at work.

22 The Faces of AIDS
Betty J. Beard

There are millions of AIDS orphans in Africa; most never knew their parents. One nurse researcher and her husband began creating special memories of dying parents for their children.

26 Sexual Practices and HIV: How Can Nurses Respond?
Mary E. Flikkema and Katherine Bierma

Caring for clients who are HIV+, promiscuous or homosexual can feel awkward. But obtaining a sexual health history and offering sensitive spiritual care is crucial for these patients who often feel isolated and stigmatized.

30 Generating Hope
Kristene Diggins

Healthcare providers sometimes inadvertently lose hope when caring for patients with a terminal illness. How can nurses generate hope and pass it on to our patients?

Parish Nursing

33 Eight Advocacy Roles for Parish Nurses
Deborah L. Patterson

Do you see people in your congregation or church neighborhood who fall through the cracks in health care? A parish nurse leader suggests eight ways parish nurses can advocate for change.