HIV infection in traditional rural communities

The challenge to rural nurses to deliver knowledgeable and skilled nursing and health care to individuals with HIV infection and AIDS is indeed tremendous. Isolation of rural communities and health care facilities coupled with limited resources, financial concerns, conservative values of many traditional rural communities, and the tendency to exclude those who do not conform to community norms make it difficult to integrate the individual with HIV disease into the rural health care delivery system fully. Issues of particular concern to the rural nurse include maintenance of client confidentiality, obtaining and maintaining current knowledge and skills necessary to the provision of quality HIV nursing care, management of complex client health care problems, and provision of appropriate support services. Rural nurses must be innovative and creative in developing mechanisms to deal with these concerns. In addition, because rural nurses are well respected by the community and viewed as possessing a great deal of expertise in the delivery of health care, they are well positioned to provide leadership to the community in developing educational and care strategies to more effectively provide HIV care. Indeed, the delivery of high-quality HIV care in rural areas across the United States will likely depend on the expertise and leadership provided by rural nurses.