Children with AIDS: issues and future directions

Throughout the history of nursing, the care of people with communicable disease has comprised a substantial part of nursing practice. With the advent of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic in the early 1980s, nurses once again began caring for persons with infectious disease. Lack of knowledge about the disease process itself, as well as fear of exposure to the virus, continue to cause concern within the health care community. This article is intended to provide nurses with current information about AIDS in the pediatric population as well as its implications for nursing practice.