Nurses' work with HIV prevention

Zambia has one of the world s most devastating HIV/AIDS epidemics and nurses work hard to spread information about how to prevent the infection. Females are more vulnerable since they often marry early to older men who already have a sexual past and also because they have larger permeability of the mucous membrane compared to men. The nurses play an important role in the prevention work and how it s done. The aim of the study is to explore the nurse s prevention work against HIV among women at the Mpongwe Mission Hospital. A qualitative study with a semistructured design has been used. The result of this study is divided in five different categories. The interviews show that the Nurses in this study at Mpongwe Mission Hospital are working hard to prevent HIV among women. They have come a long way in their prevention work although there is much left to do. The wide spread of knowledge among the nurses and the lack of staff is a big obstacle. Because of the shortage of finances the hospital can't afford to send nurses for further education or hire enough staff to be able to give the right care and to reach out to the population.

Autorentext

As nurse students at Malmö University in Sweden, Charlotta Simmons and Sofie Sintéus had the possibility to apply for a scholarship from SIDA to go to Zambia during spring 2011 to write their bachelor essay. During this time they got to know the people, their culture and everyday life in Zambia, an opportunity and experience they never will forget.

Klappentext

Zambia has one of the world s most devastating HIV/AIDS epidemics and nurses work hard to spread information about how to prevent the infection. Females are more vulnerable since they often marry early to older men who already have a sexual past and also because they have larger permeability of the mucous membrane compared to men. The nurses play an important role in the prevention work and how it s done. The aim of the study is to explore the nurse s prevention work against HIV among women at the Mpongwe Mission Hospital. A qualitative study with a semistructured design has been used. The result of this study is divided in five different categories. The interviews show that the Nurses in this study at Mpongwe Mission Hospital are working hard to prevent HIV among women. They have come a long way in their prevention work although there is much left to do. The wide spread of knowledge among the nurses and the lack of staff is a big obstacle. Because of the shortage of finances the hospital can't afford to send nurses for further education or hire enough staff to be able to give the right care and to reach out to the population.