Nursing research targets HIV/AIDS treatment in sub-Saharan Africa

Recently
published research by a Duke faculty member could lead to significant
changes in the way nurses in sub-Saharan Africa treat individuals living
with HIV or AIDS.

Michael Relf,
an associate professor and assistant dean for undergraduate education
at Duke University School of Nursing, headed a team comprised of global
nursing experts, Duke faculty and students to create a new set of
competencies that encourage nurses to collaborate across borders.

These
essential competencies will help to clarify the role and scope of
nursing practice in the region.  In the absence of these guidelines in
sub-Saharan Africa, the role of the nurse in HIV and AIDS prevention,
care and treatment has not been clearly defined, Relf said. Often,
nurses who migrated from one country to another had to adjust to new
methods and were not appropriately recognized for their knowledge,
skills and abilities.

During a
three-day summit in summer 2008, more than 30 nursing leaders came
together to address the problem. Representatives from Botswana, Lesotho,
Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe -- countries hit
especially hard by HIV/AIDS -- joined efforts to create a new framework
around the knowledge, skills and abilities nurses should demonstrate
when working with persons affected by HIV and AIDS.  Also participating
in this meeting were senior administrators from the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, the International Council of Nurses and the
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care.

"For
these six countries to come together and agree to these essential
competencies  provides a framework helping to clarify the contributions
and scope that nurses offer in addressing not only the physiological
challenges associated with HIV and AIDS but also the psychosocial,
spiritual, ethical, legal and professional issues," Relf said. "It also
provides  each country the opportunity to adapt the competencies to
their own context of healthcare delivery, culture and educational
training and the different types of nurses practicing in each country."

Relf's
findings appeared in the Jan./Feb. 2011 edition of the "Journal of the
Association of Nurses in AIDS Care" in an article titled "Essential Core
Competencies Related to HIV and AIDS Are Critically Needed In
Nursing." The document is available through open access on the
journal's website.

In the future
Relf hopes to continue studying the impact these competencies have on
nursing, nursing education, nursing regulation and most importantly,
access to quality, comprehensive HIV and AIDS care. The next step, he
says, is to evaluate how the protocols are actually being adapated and
used in the participating countries.

Said
Relf, "That's going to be a very different process. We do hope to
follow up with those countries and track their developments."