I completely agree that AIDS testing should be mandatory for all health care workers. Because of the many injuries that these people may be dealing with in other people, the transfer of the disease could be very possible. However, if the results of the test are possible, whether or not the health care worker should be denied the right to work with patients could be debatable. Possibly with the proper precautions, and the consent of the patient?
HIV/AIDS has caused suffering and death through out the world for those who have been infected and i agree that testing for aids and HIV/AIDS is important however i disagree that people should be forced into take the testing. I believe that it is high risk behavior that causes one to become infected and not what you do for a living. it is possible for people to take the proper precautions, like wearing latex gloves and having safe sex. i also believe that if it were possible to test all heath care workers and all the test were accurate it does not address what to do after people are found positive. the testing also raises question about if people are found positive will they be discriminated against. i feel that making testing for HIV/AIDS mandatory would cause all these problems and more but if we where to make the testing a choice and insure that those who were tested were educated and results would remain confidential.Help should alslo be given those who were found postive.
I agree Julia, AIDS is far too serious too let slip through the cracks. If anything were to happen while a health care was working on a patient and passed it on to them, it could mean serious health causes for the patient, as well as result in possibly suing of the hospital and/or health care worker responsible.
I don't believe that HIV testing should be mandatory for all healthcare workers. Unlike Julia said, HIV cannot be spread if the patient has an injury. When the disease hits oxygen, it dies right away; therefore, mixing blood won't tranfer the disease. The only way you can transfer the disease is by having unprotected sex and by sharing dirty needles. HIV testing shouldn't be mandatory for healthcare workers if people fear that their healthworkers can transfer the disease by their blood touching the patients blood, because it is completely impossible.
Brianna - this is interesting. Do you have any resources to back up your thoughts? I would be interested in reading something regarding the transmission of the HIV virus.
I strongly agree with Julia's comment that all health care workers should be tested for HIV/AIDS. If someone was infected by a health care worker while at the hospital, they would be extremely upset that a serious disease such as that was so easily transfered by a simple routine that could have been prevented. As to Brianna's point that the only way HIV/AIDS is transmitted I found a source that has more ways that it can be passed on. http://www.globalhealthreporting.org/diseaseinfo.asp?id=277 This clearly indicates that one is at more of a risk of getting the disease from more than just having unprotected sex and sharing needles.
I learned about how oxygen kills the HIV because I worked in an HIV testing clinic in Honduras. I was very uneducated about HIV before I went there and learned about it. Referring to Katie's comment, I went to http://www.globalhealthreporting.org/diseaseinfo.asp?id=277. Points are true from the paragraph, but some are not. When I was in the HIV/AIDS clinic, I learned that breast milk has never tested positive with the HIV virus. Scientists are still researching how it gets transmitted by breast feeding, and some have discovered that when babies are breastfeeding, the nipple can crack, causing blood to enter the babies mouth, and since suction is occurring, the baby may be able to get HIV. And I'm curious to know, when you guys say that the health care worker is able to pass on the disease to their patients, what ways are you referring to, that can result in transmitting the disease?
Julia I completely agree with you! Health care workers should have to take an AIDS test. I agree that it is super easy for a health care worker to transfer a disease to one of their patients. I do not agree that if the health care worker tests positive that its is debatable weather or not they can work or not. They should not be able to work, no question!
I agree that AIDS tesing should be mandatory for all healthcare workers. I also believe that HIV positive workers should not be kept from their jobs because of their affliction. This would be discrimination; HIV positive persons still have the right to work, they are still people. When I looked at the website that Katie posted, I noticed that it states; "Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV..." Bearing this in mind, I went to the website http://www.avert.org/stages-hiv-aids.htm and found that a person with HIV can be almost symptom free for about 10 years. Knowing this, I see no reason for HIV positive healthcare workers to be disalowed to work. That being said, if a healthcare worker develops lesions(as sometimes HIV patients will) this could be seriously dangerous to the patients in their care, and they should not deal with patients. Also, if they are too sick to continue working, the obvious thing to do is become a patient instead.
I also agree with Julia that AIDS testing be mandatory for all health care workers if only for the reason to be cautious. I do no believe that they should be unable to work in the medical field however, if symptoms do start showing I believe that proper precautions must be taken weather it be warning and getting consent of the patient or taking a temporarily leave until symptoms clear they should have the right to work. If their condition worsens they should be immediately removed from their job.
SO, if health care workers work with AIDS patients and take precautions so that they will decrease their likelihood exposure it does make sense that health care workers living with HIV should also take those same precautions to protect their patients. But should they be tested? I do think so, health care workers are routinely tested for tuberculosis so I don't think that this should be any different. I don't believe it is an invasion of privacy since all medical records would be kept confidential.
I agreed with the idea of testing healthcare workers for HIV. As Miss. Waage has said when the heathcare workers are aware their patient is HIV positive they take percations so that this virus is not spread, and on the reverse side if the worker has HIV it would be assumed that they would also take percations to make sure they didnt spread the virus. But if they have never been tested how will they know if they HIV positive or not? and if they dont know the risk of spreading the virus is much higher not only to their patients but also to anyone around them.
I disagree with you, Josie, in saying that testing health care workers for HIV/AIDS would lead to their discrimination. How can someone be looked down upon because of a disease they have? However, it DOES bring up the issue of what should be done if a health care worker is found possitive for HIV/AIDS. In some ways, I don't believe that this disease should be treated differently than any other disease a health care worker may have been exposed to. The job of health care worker is to give the assurance that a patient is healthly, and by putting the patient at risk for HIV/AIDS or any other kind of sickness/disease contradicts their job. I do agree with Sarita in that, "if symptoms do start showing [the] proper precautions must be taken weather it be warning and getting consent of the patient or taking a temporarily leave until symptoms clear." People with any disease whatsoever have just as much "right" to work as the next person, but patients also have the right to put complete trust in their doctors, that they WILL take the necessary precautions to ensure their health and safety.
I don't agree with Julia's comment, "How can someone be looked down upon because of a disease they have?" All across the world, people are discriminated against because they are infected with HIV. In Roatan, I met people who were scared to tell their friends and family. It is definitely a very sensitive topic. I know that everyone who has posted on this topic has said that the virus can be passed onto their patient, but everyone who has said that, hasn't stated any ways transmittion can occur between the healthcare worker and the patient??
17 comments:
I completely agree that AIDS testing should be mandatory for all health care workers. Because of the many injuries that these people may be dealing with in other people, the transfer of the disease could be very possible. However, if the results of the test are possible, whether or not the health care worker should be denied the right to work with patients could be debatable. Possibly with the proper precautions, and the consent of the patient?
HIV/AIDS has caused suffering and death through out the world for those who have been infected and i agree that testing for aids and HIV/AIDS is important however i disagree that people should be forced into take the testing. I believe that it is high risk behavior that causes one to become infected and not what you do for a living. it is possible for people to take the proper precautions, like wearing latex gloves and having safe sex. i also believe that if it were possible to test all heath care workers and all the test were accurate it does not address what to do after people are found positive. the testing also raises question about if people are found positive will they be discriminated against.
i feel that making testing for HIV/AIDS mandatory would cause all these problems and more but if we where to make the testing a choice and insure that those who were tested were educated and results would remain confidential.Help should alslo be given those who were found postive.
I agree Julia, AIDS is far too serious too let slip through the cracks. If anything were to happen while a health care was working on a patient and passed it on to them, it could mean serious health causes for the patient, as well as result in possibly suing of the hospital and/or health care worker responsible.
I don't believe that HIV testing should be mandatory for all healthcare workers. Unlike Julia said, HIV cannot be spread if the patient has an injury. When the disease hits oxygen, it dies right away; therefore, mixing blood won't tranfer the disease. The only way you can transfer the disease is by having unprotected sex and by sharing dirty needles. HIV testing shouldn't be mandatory for healthcare workers if people fear that their healthworkers can transfer the disease by their blood touching the patients blood, because it is completely impossible.
Brianna - this is interesting. Do you have any resources to back up your thoughts? I would be interested in reading something regarding the transmission of the HIV virus.
I strongly agree with Julia's comment that all health care workers should be tested for HIV/AIDS. If someone was infected by a health care worker while at the hospital, they would be extremely upset that a serious disease such as that was so easily transfered by a simple routine that could have been prevented. As to Brianna's point that the only way HIV/AIDS is transmitted I found a source that has more ways that it can be passed on. http://www.globalhealthreporting.org/diseaseinfo.asp?id=277 This clearly indicates that one is at more of a risk of getting the disease from more than just having unprotected sex and sharing needles.
I learned about how oxygen kills the HIV because I worked in an HIV testing clinic in Honduras. I was very uneducated about HIV before I went there and learned about it. Referring to Katie's comment, I went to http://www.globalhealthreporting.org/diseaseinfo.asp?id=277. Points are true from the paragraph, but some are not. When I was in the HIV/AIDS clinic, I learned that breast milk has never tested positive with the HIV virus. Scientists are still researching how it gets transmitted by breast feeding, and some have discovered that when babies are breastfeeding, the nipple can crack, causing blood to enter the babies mouth, and since suction is occurring, the baby may be able to get HIV. And I'm curious to know, when you guys say that the health care worker is able to pass on the disease to their patients, what ways are you referring to, that can result in transmitting the disease?
this comment is from Brianna Cullen
Julia I completely agree with you! Health care workers should have to take an AIDS test. I agree that it is super easy for a health care worker to transfer a disease to one of their patients. I do not agree that if the health care worker tests positive that its is debatable weather or not they can work or not. They should not be able to work, no question!
I agree that AIDS tesing should be mandatory for all healthcare workers. I also believe that HIV positive workers should not be kept from their jobs because of their affliction. This would be discrimination; HIV positive persons still have the right to work, they are still people. When I looked at the website that Katie posted, I noticed that it states; "Intact, healthy skin is an excellent barrier against HIV..." Bearing this in mind, I went to the website http://www.avert.org/stages-hiv-aids.htm and found that a person with HIV can be almost symptom free for about 10 years. Knowing this, I see no reason for HIV positive healthcare workers to be disalowed to work. That being said, if a healthcare worker develops lesions(as sometimes HIV patients will) this could be seriously dangerous to the patients in their care, and they should not deal with patients. Also, if they are too sick to continue working, the obvious thing to do is become a patient instead.
I also agree with Julia that AIDS testing be mandatory for all health care workers if only for the reason to be cautious. I do no believe that they should be unable to work in the medical field however, if symptoms do start showing I believe that proper precautions must be taken weather it be warning and getting consent of the patient or taking a temporarily leave until symptoms clear they should have the right to work. If their condition worsens they should be immediately removed from their job.
SO, if health care workers work with AIDS patients and take precautions so that they will decrease their likelihood exposure it does make sense that health care workers living with HIV should also take those same precautions to protect their patients. But should they be tested? I do think so, health care workers are routinely tested for tuberculosis so I don't think that this should be any different. I don't believe it is an invasion of privacy since all medical records would be kept confidential.
I agreed with the idea of testing healthcare workers for HIV. As Miss. Waage has said when the heathcare workers are aware their patient is HIV positive they take percations so that this virus is not spread, and on the reverse side if the worker has HIV it would be assumed that they would also take percations to make sure they didnt spread the virus. But if they have never been tested how will they know if they HIV positive or not? and if they dont know the risk of spreading the virus is much higher not only to their patients but also to anyone around them.
I disagree with you, Josie, in saying that testing health care workers for HIV/AIDS would lead to their discrimination. How can someone be looked down upon because of a disease they have? However, it DOES bring up the issue of what should be done if a health care worker is found possitive for HIV/AIDS. In some ways, I don't believe that this disease should be treated differently than any other disease a health care worker may have been exposed to. The job of health care worker is to give the assurance that a patient is healthly, and by putting the patient at risk for HIV/AIDS or any other kind of sickness/disease contradicts their job.
I do agree with Sarita in that, "if symptoms do start showing [the] proper precautions must be taken weather it be warning and getting consent of the patient or taking a temporarily leave until symptoms clear." People with any disease whatsoever have just as much "right" to work as the next person, but patients also have the right to put complete trust in their doctors, that they WILL take the necessary precautions to ensure their health and safety.
I don't agree with Julia's comment, "How can someone be looked down upon because of a disease they have?" All across the world, people are discriminated against because they are infected with HIV. In Roatan, I met people who were scared to tell their friends and family. It is definitely a very sensitive topic. I know that everyone who has posted on this topic has said that the virus can be passed onto their patient, but everyone who has said that, hasn't stated any ways transmittion can occur between the healthcare worker and the patient??
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