[Developing and establishing an expanded and more comprehensive HIV/AIDS nursing practice]

Developing and establishing an advanced nursing practice is an essential step toward future-oriented nursing care. An action research process was initiated to establish advanced nursing practice at the HIV clinic of the outpatient department at the University Hospital Basel with the goal to offer advanced nursing care to patients. Participatory action research allows generating knowledge about a social system while at the same time tempts to promote social change. The most important goal is to constantly analyse, improve, and evaluate nursing care for patients and family caregivers. Advanced nursing practice in HIV/AIDS is based on solid knowledge regarding the illness and current therapies. Central concepts are caring, clinical experiences, evidence based practice, and patient preferences. Through a systematic step-by-step process, the nurses at the HIV clinic are being better educated and more experienced in these concepts. An essential aspect of advanced nursing practice is the specialization of each nurse in a self selected topic within HIV/AIDS care. These nurses now offer new services such as medication management and adherence support, health maintenance and prevention, and symptom management. This ongoing process of learning while establishing advanced nursing practice in HIV/AIDS, enables the nurses to face future changes in health care in a proactive way.