Developing the Nursing Component in a National AIDS Prevention and Control Programme

Gives nurse managers and nurse educators practical advice on how to assess nursing needs for the care of HIV- and AIDS-infected patients and to organize the inclusion of these needs in national plans for AIDS prevention and control. By focusing on the essentials of planning and management the booklet aims to provide nurses with the information and tools needed to organize nursing services that can cope on a nationwide scale with the major demands on health care and society created by this pandemic. Background information is provided in the opening chapter that explains the objectives of the WHO Global AIDS Strategy and describes the essential elements of a national AIDS prevention program as part of this strategy. The second and most extensive chapter aims to equip nurses to take the initiative when planning the nursing component of a national program in line with this profession's strong tradition of providing skilful and compassionate health care to individuals, families, and communities. Nurses learn how to form a nursing task force formulate a national policy, analyze the situation, assess needs, propose interventions, and evaluate their effectiveness. Planning is greatly facilitated by the inclusion of detailed checklists indicating the step-by-step actions needed to assess needs, assign priorities, allocate resources, and use indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives in the areas of nursing management, nursing practice, and nursing education.