Nursing research in HIV/AIDS home care, Part 2: Results and implications

This study categorized the problems of clients with human immunodeficiency syndrome/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), identified on admission to home care, into nursing diagnoses. The study followed a descriptive retrospective record review of adult men and women (n = 244) admitted to a certified home health care agency in New York City. When all problems were clustered into nursing diagnoses, the principle diagnosis in more than 70% of the sample were impaired home maintenance, high risk for ineffective individual coping, altered nutrition:less than body requirements, feeding self-care deficit, and fatigue. The results indicate that the home healthcare needs of persons with HIV/AIDS are multifaceted in nature and extend beyond the signs and symptoms of advancing disease. Nursing diagnoses serve as a basis for capturing all data that contribute to client problems and are the focus of planning nursing care in the home.