Older adults as an HIV-positive risk group

When older adults are admitted to the hospital, they are usually admitted with multiple diagnoses and are not usually considered to be at risk for HIV infection. The review of hospital records discussed in this article documents that people over 60 years of age are indeed infected with HIV and that 42% of the population studied were in the age range of 70 to 100 years. The review of hospital records documented that people over 60 years of age and older fell into the same high risk populations as did people from any other age group. Gerontological nurses must be informed about the methods of prevention, expected course of infection, response to treatment, and effective ways to implement nursing care for older adults who are HIV positive.