Application of laboratory diagnostics in HIV nursing.
The HIV epidemic has challenged nursing to rethink the tools it uses and to consider how traditional medical tools may be used in the assessment of nursing problems. This article presents information for the direct care nurse on laboratory tests and how they may be used to meet the traditional needs of physiologic assessment and evaluation and to develop specific nursing interventions. This articles discusses tests used for HIV infection, HIV disease progression, presence of microbiologic agents of opportunistic infections commonly associated with advanced HIV disease, and common laboratory tests and their special relevance to HIV. Nursing implications and interventions are discussed throughout the text.
Barrick
B
B
Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Vogel
S
S
D015492:AIDS Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing*; D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D018791:CD4 Lymphocyte Count; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis