Challenges in nursing care of elderly HIV-infected individuals

Kada se prvi put pojavila bolest AIDS, opisana je kod mladih muškaraca koji su vrlo brzo umirali. Očekivano trajanje života većina bolesnika bilo je od nekoliko dana do nekoliko tjedana rijetko nekoliko mjeseci. Kasnije se utvrdilo da je uzrok virus humane imunodeficijencije odnosno HIV. No, pojavom vrlo učinkovitog antiretrovirusnog liječenja bolest više nije bila povezana s brzim smrtnim ishodom te ideja o starenju s HIV infekcijom iz teoretskog promaknuta je u stvarnost. S obzirom da je HIV infekcija postala kronična bolest, medicinske sestre brinut će se za sve veći broj bolesnika starije populacije. Budući da medicinske sestre ponajviše vremena provode uz bolesnika, svjesnost o potrebama nove populacije već su prepoznate. Hrvatska ima epidemiju niske razine, međutim zbog ranog otkrivanja novih infekcija u mladih osoba, udio starijih osoba u skrbi još uvijek je nizak. S toga skrb za starije osobe zaražene virusom HIV-a predstavlja veliki izazov za sve zdravstvene djelatnike. Pružanje skrbi mora uzeti u obzir osim mnogih komorbiditeta koje prati starenje, socijalnu ranjivost te probleme stigme i diskriminacije s kojima se susreću starije osobe inficirane HIV virusom. Sestrinstvo ima novu ulogu u skrbi, a pri tom mora definirati uspješno starenje i odrediti nove smjernice kako to postići u novoj populaciji.The first time AIDS was mentioned it was described as an illness inflicting men who were dying at a fast rate. The estimated life-span of patients were from a few days to a few weeks and rarely, a few months. It was later discovered that the cause of the illness was the human immunodeficiency virus, i.e. HIV. After the appearance of a very efficient antiretroviral therapy the illness was no longer linked to a quick death and the idea of growing old with HIV went from theory to reality. As HIV became a chronic illness nurses were going to be taking care of a growing number of elderly patients. Having in mind that nurses spend most of their time with patients, the needs of the new populations are already recognised. The epidemic in Croatia is at a low, however with the discovery of the illness in younger generations, the elderly patients in care are still low. Therefore, care for the elderly infected with HIV presents a great challenge for all health-care proffessionals. When caring for such patients one has to take into consideration, aside from the comorbidity which accompanies old age, the social vulnerability, stigma and discrimination these elderly patients with HIV face. Nursing has a new role in caregiving and it needs to define successful ageing and determine new guidlines on how to achieve this with the new population