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Oh my God! There are so many things I want to say, share, vent, rant, shout... STOP!
Breathe...
Okay...
Let's take it from the top. I arrived at work Friday night; picked up a bite to eat from the cafeteria; chatted with my colleagues (I really like that word. It makes me feel a lot more important than I actually am). After a little fellowshipping, I headed down the small corridor on the back side of the Emergency department toward the broken time clock. Well, it wasn't really broken. Badges were still being scanned. Time was still being recorded. The screen just was completely blank - no numbers, no way to tell what time you actually clocked in or out unless you looked at your watch.
To my surprise there was a brand spanking new time clock mounted on the wall. It was all colorful with neat buttons and a very sleek looking design. This modern marvel greets you with good morning, good evening and good bye (my favorite). It even has a section detailing upcoming events being sponsored by the hospital. Our next big community event - FREE HIV TESTING to be done on NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY.
I am the world's worst about paying attention to detail. I hadn't noticed the upcoming event section until a coworker approached the time clock and began to read it out loud. NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY.
Now don't get me wrong. I'm all about patient/family/community education and obviously this is something much needed. Case and point - to the best of my knowledge in the entire seventeen years I've been a nurse I've only cared for .....wait for it.... ONE non-black person with HIV/AIDS (remember...to the best of my knowledge...we certainly don't always know and many people won't share that paramount tidbit with you).
However, I CAN'T count the number of black men, women and yes, children that I've cared for that are carriers of this often lethal virus. No. Wait. Yes, I can. I've only cared for one black child with HIV. He was ten years old and had been infected by his mother at birth...
Breathe....
What the hell is going on!!!! (Rhetorical)
This morning I visited the CDC website and the stats are numbing, depressing, and terrifying... and that's putting it mildly.
1. 1 in 16 black men will be diagnosed with HIV at some point in his lifetime, as will 1 in 30 black women.
2. Out of the one million people in America infected with HIV, nearly 50% of them are black.
3. The black American community, while making up only 13% of the population accounts for about 50% of all new infections
4. From 2005–2008, the rate of HIV diagnoses among blacks increased from 68 out of 100,000 persons to 74 out of 100,000!!!
This increase reflects the largest increase in rates of HIV diagnoses by race or ethnicity. For the past 11 years, February 7th has been designated as National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The theme for 2011 is It takes a village to fight HIV/AIDS!
Okay, that's fine and dandy and maybe we can all stand around the bed and hold hands singing Kumbaya while you idiots are continuing to have UNPROTECTED SEX!!!!!
Seriously!
Breathe....
Fighting HIV/AIDS may end in the village but it begins with you! The CDC wants to shift the blame from the individual (and of course, I know some people do fall victim to degenerates who aren't careful and infect their unsuspecting mate).
But I'm sorry CDC... your Social Determinants theory doesn't bode well with me.
Social Determinants of Health are the circumstances in which people are born, grow up, live, work, and age, as well as the systems put in place to deal with illness. Many of the same social and environmental factors that put black Americans at risk for other chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes are the very ones fueling the HIV epidemic in black communities.
That just DOES NOT COMPUTE! As a matter of fact, it's a lie!!
My father died of heart disease. My grandmother died of cancer. Several aunts, uncles, and cousins have hypertension. Diabetes runs like a gazelle on weekend furlough throughout my family. Genetics predispose me to have at least some of these issues to deal with in my lifetime. Environmental factors such as the type cooking I grew up eating (had I not corrected this) might even be the culprit in my statistically below average future health and wellness projections...or my increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular complications....or my significantly shorter lifespan simply because I'm a black woman than any other ethnic
