A patient has come into the free clinic for HIV testing. The test comes back positive and the patient is told they have HIV

Question

While assessing the patient the nurse is aware that many patients with HIV utilize various alternative or complementary therapies. How does the nurse address complementary or alternative therapy?
A) "Complementary therapies such as acupuncture or herbal therapy are dangerous to patients with HIV and we discourage you from exploring these types of therapy."
B) "Researchers have not looked at the benefits of alternative therapy for patients with HIV, so we suggest that you stay away from these therapies until there is solid research data available."
C) "We see many patients with HIV who are using some type of alternative therapy and there are benefits and risks. Are there any types of alternative or complementary therapies that you follow or are there any herbs that you take?"
D) "You do not take herbs or practice some type of alternative medicine such as acupuncture, message therapy, hypnosis or diet therapy, do you?"

Answer 1

Ans: C
Feedback: The nurse should approach the topic of alternative or complementary therapies from an open-ended, supportive approach. People with HIV infection report substantial use of complementary and alternative therapies for symptom management. All patients should be assessed for the use of such therapies, as there is a growing body of literature reporting benefits related to alternative therapies. There are also adverse drug-drug interactions between complementary and alternative therapies such as St. John's wort and some antiretroviral medications. To obtain a complete health history, the nurse should ask about the patient's use of alternative therapies in an inquisitive and non-judgmental way.