Delegation of HIV/AIDS Nurses To Visit South Africa in Cultural Exchange Program
A delegation of 16 U.S. nurses who work with HIV/AIDS patients are planning to travel to South Africa next month on a cultural exchange program sponsored by the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing and the People to People Ambassador Program, the Newark Star-Ledger reports. The delegation plans to visit an AIDS clinic in a rural area near Johannesburg, a "baby sanctuary" that treats infants and children and a hospital in Cape Town that has an AIDS clinic, according to the Star-Ledger. The delegation, led by Lucy Bradley-Springer, president of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care and a professor at the University of Colorado, plans to meet with government officials, educators, college students and community leaders to discuss the epidemic. In addition, the delegation plans to exchange views with South African nurses about current theories and practices in the care of HIV/AIDS patients. Dennis O'Neill, the HIV unit coordinator for Jersey Shore Addiction Services in Asbury Park, N.J., said he is honored to be part of the delegation, according to the Star-Ledger. "I am very interested in learning how to communicate information more effectively to the culturally diverse population with which I work," he said. Renee Fusco, an infection prevention and control coordinator at Underwood-Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, N.J., said she believes the exchange will improve patient care for both groups of nurses, the Star-Ledger reports. "I believe it is our collective responsibility to join together as one human family to lessen the suffering caused by AIDS in the world," she said (Stewart, Newark Star-Ledger, 2/24).
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