I am terrified of working with AIDS patients....?

Question

...because I have heard stories about a glove "tearing" and infectious fluids came in contact with a cut or scrape leaving the caregiver infected. I am a nursing assistant with a family and I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I somehow contracted AIDS. I am working on another career choice that would put me doing more paper work, less patient care. Any suggestions on how I can maybe change my thinking on this?

Answer 1

If you work in healthcare, you need to be willing to take the risks. If you are not, then I advise looking into a field where such risks are not necessary.

I have been working in healthcare for 20 years...I have had multiple exposures by different means (needle sticks, getting scratched by a patient, getting bitten, being elbow-deep in someone's blood at the scene of a car accident and so on). I have never caught anything. I am tested on a regular basis and I have had all required vaccinations.

The chances of contracting HIV from an exposure (at work) are very slim. Learn and practice universal precautions. Wash your hands frequently. Be careful. And most of all, use common sense. You will have all these resources at your disposal...USE THEM.

EMT

Answer 2

you are worried because of the information that you have. you need to be better informed. how often has a glove torn? probably so rare you'd have a better chance of dying in a car accident tommorrow.

so my advice is to get educated, follow all the precautions and talk to other ppl in the field. express your concerns, they probably had them too

and know that it's caring ppl like you that make the world a better place for ppl that are suffering.

there are all kinds of things you can catch, equally as bad. plz don't let this frighten you.

Answer 3

Think about this realistically - the body fluid of a patient has to somehow get into your body through a "DEEP CUT" not a scratch.
So you would somehow have to gash yourself then a patient bleed all over that gash - how is that going to happen then ?

Answer 4

listen it is all part of the job...you shoud have thought about it before you chose to do anything in the medical field....i am a graduate nurse and i made sure that i looked at everything that would go wrong and how i would feel about it if anything happened....

i have worked with a few aids cases and many syphillis cases and yes their bood has come into contact with me but i wasnt worried cause i am doing my job with heart....

you just need to take the necessary precautions....you need to make up your mind now because the medical field is a nondiscriminatory and nonjudgemental profession and it sound like you will be biased and discriminate against those who you do know has hiv.....

you not only putting yourself at risk but the patients welfare because of how you feel...

Answer 5

Getting honest, accurate information will help you to better understand the truth about this disease. Listening to people who really do not fully understand will only increase your anxiety. This virus is very fragile and doesn't transmit as easily as you think. Please do some research and learn all that you can concerning this and all other diseases.

Answer 6

Keeping yourself healthy is the key to avoiding infection by HIV. Don't have promiscuous sex, don't share needles, and wash regularly. HIV is a very picky virus, it doesn't transmit easily in casual contact.

Answer 7

its probably easier to get the virus through conventional ways such as unprotected sex, sharing needles etc. than looking after Aids patients.
an aids scare should change your perception on people affected by hiv/aids. especially one from the usual ways.

u should know better, ur a nurse