Sharing Nursing Lessons on Improving ART Adherence in Patients with Complex Needs

By Sarah Arnquist, GHDonline

While nurses in high-income countries benefit from many additional resources compared with their colleagues working in resource-poor settings, both groups confront challenges in promoting adherence to HIV treatment, particularly among patients with numerous complex needs. Through a virtual discussion this week on GHDonline.org, nurses working globally are exchanging tools and strategies to promote patient adherence.

	Christopher Shaw

Christopher Shaw, a nurse working at Massachusetts General Hospital’s infectious disease clinic, is leading the discussion in GHDonline’s nursing community, one of nine public virtual professional communities developed by a team at Harvard University and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Through the GHDonline community, Shaw is connecting with hundreds of health care implementers worldwide to share proven practices and resources to improve patient care quality. Shaw has posted two short case descriptions of immigrant patients struggling to adhere to their HIV treatment.

 In response, expert panelist and veteran nurse Pat Daoust wrote, “One of the advantages I had while working in other countries was learning first-hand from my in- country nursing colleagues just what many of the cultural, religious and lifestyle challenges existed for our patients which would impact their ability to successfully or unsuccessfully adhere to ARVs. As we work more and more with the immigrant population here in the U.S. I think it really becomes our responsibility to investigate and learn from our patients about those barriers.”

Dehne Mengiste, the nursing director at I-TECH Ethiopia, trains cadres of adherence case managers and adherence supporters that work directly with patients to improve adherence. Mengiste offered suggestions to manage Shaw’s complex patients and then recommended connecting these patients to groups. “Joining the Association of People Living with HIV/ADIS,” she wrote, “brings a difference in the life of such cases, especially with those who speak same language and share some aspect of culture and religion.”

	Sheila Davis

Sheila Davis, GHDonline moderator and Partners In Health Nursing Director, frequently says global health begins at home in our own backyards. Moreover, she says, nurses and anyone else going to work abroad should not go with the mindset of wanting to teach, but rather to listen and learn.

Through this GHDonline panel discussion, nurses can begin participating in global health and learning from their colleagues worldwide.

To participate in the discussion, sign up for GHDonline’s Global Nursing & Midwifery Community and set your email notifications to “per post” for instant participation via email or “daily digest” to reply on the web. Then jump into the conversation and share your experiences, advice and resources.