Fighting fears and building confidence in LTC’s HIV abilities

Nurse practitioner Judi Lacinak has spent more than two decades working with patients living with HIV, the last three with those needing long-term or post-acute care. She’s both a clinical expert and a passionate advocate for better HIV care. That makes her an ideal candidate to teach others how to treat patients, understand the risks and deliver treatment and services while preserving dignity. During a recent visit to Broadway House for Continuing Care, McKnight’s Long-Term Care News asked Lacinak for strategies that can help build confidence for new caregivers. For new staff, she says, training on bloodborne pathogens, infection control, standard precautions, enhanced barrier precautions and various types of isolation are critical. They can improve care for patients and reduce fear or misunderstanding among frontline team members. “I think back to the ’80s and the '90s when somebody had HIV and they were put in a room in isolation and they were in there by themselves because we as healthcare providers didn't know,” she tells McKnight’s Senior Editor Kimberly Marselas. “But nowadays it's different. You walk into a room, you're going to treat that patient who’s HIV-positive the same as you would treat the patient who's in the bed next to them, who's not,” she explains. “Think of it as a chronic illness, and if I can manage your high blood pressure, I can manage HIV.” Lacinak, a nurse educator, also offers advice on how to educate patients to be better advocates for themselves, especially amid continued advances in the medications that control the virus and support their immune systems. And in this final piece of McKnight’s HIV in LTC series, Lacinak also takes a few minutes to remember a short-stay patient whose life she touched — and whom she later encountered thriving after treatment. “I really think that it's a privilege to take care of patients here. And I try to get that through to student nurses, when they come through here, that somebody is trusting their family member or their loved one into your hands to be a caregiver to them,” she says. “That's a privilege that we can't take lightly.” Listeners of this special McKnight's Newsmakers podcast will come away with actionable insights and an uplifting dose of inspiration. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.