Nearly half of the nation's nurses and caregivers are afraid of touching people with HIV, the disease that causes AIDS, according to survey results released yesterday.
The survey, conducted by the Garden of Mercy Foundation (GMF), an organization dedicated to caring for AIDS patients, investigated the attitudes of healthcare workers in Taipei, Changhua and Tainan to patients with AIDS.
"The survey showed that 49 percent of nurses hold an open attitude towards AIDS patients," said Lu Tsung-hsueh (
But 47 percent of respondents said it was difficult for them to care for AIDS patients, Lu said.
"The survey revealed that many of our nurses and caregivers still cannot accept AIDS patients," Lu said.
Lu said that nurses and caregivers in central and southern Taiwan were more likely to accept AIDS patients than their northern counterparts.
"According to the survey, the primary reason nurses and caregivers find it difficult to care for AIDS patients is that they lack knowledge of the mentality and needs of the patients," Lu said.
Nurses and caregivers said it was difficult to consult with AIDS patients, although some also feared becoming infected with HIV, according to the survey.
More than 90 percent of the interviewees regarded AIDS as a growing problem, while 80 percent believed care for AIDS patients was insufficient.
Irene Shih (
"Nurses need to ask themselves whether they are ready to care for AIDS patients," Shih said.
Shih added many AIDS patients dare not tell their families about their disease because they are afraid they will be driven out of their homes.
In March 2001, the GMF established the House of Mercy to take care of AIDS patients.
Foundation president Susan Chang (
"These patients are abandoned by their families and friends. They have even given up hope," she said.
Foundation CEO May Chyou (邱淑美) told reporters about an 82-year-old woman who was deserted by her four sons after they found out she had been infected with HIV.
"The old lady was infected with the disease through a blood transfusion during an operation. Her youngest [son] never stepped into her ward after learning his mother was infected with AIDS," Chyou said.
Chyou said that when the lady was sent to the House of Mercy, she would neither open her eyes nor talk. Her sons rarely visited her and when they did, they were unwilling to approach her, according to Chyou.
"The lady never knew she had AIDS. She only knew she was deserted," Chyou said.
Devastated by her sons' abandonment, the lady went on a hunger strike and died shortly afterwards, according to Chyou.
"Her sons only told us they felt very ashamed and afraid of their mother's disease," Chyou said.
However, Chang said when she hugged the old lady, the woman responded. "Love can open any-one's heart," Chang said.
The GMF called for the government to provide AIDS patients with special wards so that they may pass away peacefully.
RSS