Health Medical Homework Help

Peer# 1

HIV refers to human immunodeficiency virus infection. AIDS refers to acquired immune deficiency syndrome. When HIV is left untreated, the virus leads to severe disease and death during the late stage of the disease – which is known as stage 3 or AIDS (Fleming, 2014). The standard protocol when diagnosing a patient with HIV or AIDS involves contacting the patient’s previous sexual partners to notify them of their exposure to the disease. This standard practice affects the gathering of incidence and prevalence rates for HIV/AIDS because of the time associated with when the diagnosis is done. Prevalence and incidence refer to rates within a particular time frame. Both incidence and prevalence rates are affected when there is a failure to communicate with past partners regarding possible exposure. This leads to difficulties associated with narrowing down the exact time frame of exposure. Many people can remain undiagnosed because they do not have adverse symptoms or access to testing.

I agree that this protocol is a step in the right direction. Many states have partner-notification laws – meaning that if you test positive for HIV you or your health care provider may be legally obligated to tell your sex partners that they are at risk for possible exposure (World Health Organization, 2016). In efforts to assist data gathering stricter policies associated to partner notification laws can be placed within states that have higher rates of HIV or AIDS, such as Florida, Texas, and California. There can also be an expansion on access to HIV testing. Many people remain undiagnosed because they do not have access to testing or preventative care options.

Peer# 2

“The number of persons living with HIV, or prevalence, has increased steadily since the early years of the epidemic” (Fleming, 2015, p. 448). This is because HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence like it was when the epidemic started in the 1980s. People are now living with the disease instead of dying from it. This is a good thing since people are living but this also increases then number of people who can transmit the disease to others. Even though HIV/AIDS is not as dangerous as it previously was, it is passed around much more frequently than it used to be since people are living long enough to spread it to many people. Therefore, the standard practice of telling previous sexual partners is important. If a person has a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS they should tell their partners, so that disease spread can be reduced. If a person does not know that they were sexually active with a person with HIV/AIDs, they can potentially have HIV/AIDS and there is a good possibility that they will unintentionally spread it to others. If this occurs, then the cases of HIV/AIDS will continue to increase at an alarming rate. I agree with the protocol because it helps reduce the spread of infection and allows people who may have been exposed to get tested and get treatment for the condition if they do have it. It also allows them to know that they need to practice safe sex so that they do not continue to spread the disease to others. If changes were made to the data gathering, I think that everyone should get tested for sexually transmitted disease at every physical exam. This would allow people without symptoms to discover they have a disease and treat it and prevent spread to other partners in the future.

• Respond to this two classmates’ posts. Which of the two associations/conferences your classmate posted do you believe would be the best venue for the chosen research project? Why?

Peer# 3

The research question I came up with is: Are individuals who have an autoimmune disease at an increased risk of developing periodontal disease compared to those without an autoimmune disease?

I think the California Dental Hygiene Association (CDHA) would be a great association to present my poster to. The purpose of the CDHA is to act as a resource for dental hygienists to share common interests, activities, education, and institutions in fellowship with their professional colleagues (CDHA, 2021). They have annual Spring Scientific Session where students can present posters for a competition. The winning poster can be used to further research the winning topic. I believe my research topic would do well here because the main goals of dental hygienists are to prevent gum disease and restore diseased gums to health.

I think the California Dental Association (CDA) would also be a good choice for an association to present my poster to. The CDA prides themselves on being a community where dentists can learn, share, be inspired and grow in their profession (CDA, 2021). My research poster would do well at the CDA conventions because annually they allow poster presentations about all things related to dental education and training. My research topic could allow the CDA to further investigate into the topic of periodontal disease and its association with autoimmune disease. This goes along with their goal to be a community that is constantly growing in their profession.  

Peer# 4

As a nurse, one of my primary functions is educating my patients. Diets are one of the main things that we tend to educate on for our patients. While we know about nutrition, many of us to not practice what we preach. My study looks into the beverage choices of night shift nurses, who tend to consume more sweetened beverages as they tend to have the most caffeine. My study looks to see if there is a comparison between those that consume naturally sweetened beverages and those that drink artificially sweetened beverages in order to see if there is a greater chance of a higher BMI for either category.

           The first organization I thought that would be interested in this research would be the American Nurses Association (ANA). This is an organization that focuses on the advancement of nursing research and leadership. This organization might be interested in finding out the results of this question to help educate the nurses in their organization. For the annual conference for the ANA, the site had requested poster presentations and abstracts to be submitted so that they can have the best presented at their annual conference. The website offers many different categories for submission and this research would fit best into the categories of education and health services research (American Nurses Association, 2021). A great opportunity that is offered by accepted abstracts and posters, is that they will be printed in the ANA’s Journal, Annals of Neurology (American Nurses Associations, 2021).

           The second organization that I looked into was the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, as I am a member. While this may not look like an appropriate fit on the surface, there is correlation between intake of sugar and its effects on mental health. There is also a lot of information on the mental health of nurses just working night shift since it affects the normal circadian rhythms. Together these along with the risk for disturbed body image, put nurses at risk for decrease in healthy mental health. Too, if this research affects this population, it could easily be applied to other individuals who work non-traditional hours. The organization is looking for poster presentations to utilize in their annual conference (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2020). Due to Covid, they are doing their conference virtually and are asking for the posters to be in PowerPoint, and for the presenters to pre-record their presentations (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2020). FYI, this sight offers a link for free templates for poster presentations, if you need one…