Graduation is almost here! Well, at least for some of us! I don't think I'm going to walk...it's on a Friday, and I'd much rather use a day off for the beach or camping than hanging out in a crowded arena for a few hours. I'm actually scheduled to work that day, but I think my boss will let me off early to blow off some steam...he's the one that paid for my education, after all!
With the M & M simulation come and gone, I must say I was surprised to see how many times I missed a dose and/or forgot a particular pill altogether. With working with HIV patients in the past, I never really felt their frustrations with keeping a strict medication schedule. I used to think it was easy. And this was before the invention of cellphones, which we could program to remind us! I would think, "just write it down!" I now see that it isn't that easy. Not to mention the dietary restrictions that go along with it. I am happy that I don't have to deal with something like that on a day to day basis, but it makes me feel bad for our patients and my friends that do.
Did You Know?
I really wanted to change my "Did You Know" title to "What the..." after reading this story. A basketball day camp in Rockland county was found guilty of discriminating against an HIV positive boy who wanted to attend their camp in 2004. The director of the camp denied the boy's admission due to his HIV status. According to the article, his status was disclosed by his mother during the admission process. The camp nurse had raised the question to the camp pediatrician on what the transmission risk would be. The Director in turn denied the boy admission.
There's a couple of statements here that make me want to smack my head against the desk a few times. The NURSE, whom I assume is a degreed nurse, asked the PEDIATRICIAN, whom I can only assume is a degreed and licensed physician, what the trasmission risk was, and between these two brainiacs they determined that the risk was sufficient enough to deny this boy admission. What nursing school/medical school did they attend? Are these medical professionals for real?
I often wonder what the medical community thinks when reading things like this. If a medical professional is stating there is a major risk, they could be spreading this kind of misinformation to the masses through the patients they treat. It's no wonder people are still roaming the United States thinking we can get AIDS from the toilet or a drinking fountain!
Would this boy be playing basketball with youths and have to have sex with them? No. Would this boy be playing basketball with youths and share dirty needles with them? Doubtful. It's justice that the camp was found guilty in violating state and federal discrimination laws, but what about the health practitioners in this case? Business as usual? It just makes me cringe.
Those kinds of stories really make me feel awful for people living with HIV. Especially a young child in this instance, who simply wanted to behave as a young child. As if his life wasn't hard enough, we should have the decensy to provide him some kind of normalcy and allow him to participate in activities that pose no threat to others.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that someone else found the simulation to be difficult! I cannot imagine actually having HIV and having to experience this through medication side effects and HIV symptoms!
I think we all found the simulation to be difficult. Too bad there could have been serious complications if it was for real. In the men's panel, one of the men mentioned that he had to take 18 capsules of just ONE medication a day! I don't think I could handle it.
ReplyDeleteI think the "What the" would have been appropriate. How dare they discriminate against a child? You would think that medical professionals would know better. Great job on the did you know.
The beach sounds a lot better than going to graduation! :) I went yesterday for only two hours, and today I look like a lobster.
ReplyDeleteI too missed some pills every now and then. We probably we take it more seriously if we began to feel the consequences of missing the pill.
I am sure that your Did You Know happens often. It just proves that even doctors are not fully educated on HIV. It is hard to break the discrimination when there are so many people fearful of diseases.