Essential nursing competencies related to HIV and AIDS

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Public Health
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• An estimated 33 million people globally live with HIV/AIDS, necessitating a competent nursing workforce.
• Increased funding for antiretroviral therapy (ART) requires nurses to manage ART initiation, monitoring, adherence, and symptom management.
• Nurses play a crucial role in managing drug-drug interactions, including those with traditional therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop essential nursing competencies for HIV and AIDS management.
• To guide the education and training of nurses in HIV/AIDS care.
• To inform policy and regulatory reforms related to nursing scope of practice in HIV/AIDS.

Main Methods:

• A participatory action approach was employed.
• Nursing leaders from six sub-Saharan African countries collaborated.
• The focus was on developing essential competencies for HIV and AIDS nursing care.

Main Results:

• Essential nursing competencies for HIV and AIDS were developed.
• These competencies address the complexities of antiretroviral therapy management.
• The competencies are designed for diverse nursing education and practice settings.

Conclusions:

• The developed competencies will guide preservice and in-service nursing education for HIV/AIDS.
• These competencies support policy and regulatory reform, including task-shifting and sharing.
• Enhancing nursing capacity is critical for effective global HIV/AIDS response.