The University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica: UWI Journals
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Nurses’ experiences of stigma in HIV and AIDS care in Jamaica
No full textObjective: To explore how multilayered dimensions of stigma influence nurses provision of nursing care to patients and families living with HIV/AIDS.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was done among 201 frontline nurses, midwives and nurse managers working in the public health care system in Westmoreland, St. James, Trelawny, Kingston & St. Andrew, St. Catherine and St. Thomas. Stigma was measured using the validated HIV/AIDS Stigma Instrument for Nurses. Qualitative data were collected in a purposive sample of 20 nurses and midwives using a semi structured interview guide. Interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim coded and thematically analyzed.
Results: Quantitative data revealed low levels of stigma against patients with HIV/AIDS. Nurses frequently reported occurrences of subtle stigmatization of patients such as making patients with HIV last to be cared for 48 (23.9%), shouting at or scolding patients with HIV/AIDS 46 (22.4%) and generally giving poor quality care 42 (22.8%). A small proportion, 20 (9.7%) of respondents also reported that nurses who care for patients with HIV/AIDS were stigmatized, particularly nurses who work in hospitals rather than health centres
Qualitative interviews with nurses and midwives revealed that stigma and discrimination was a major factor that influenced nurses’ ability to provide care for patients living with HIV. Fear of stigma and discrimination also influenced patients’ decision to disclose their HIV status, which in turn influenced nurses’ ability to provide care.
Conclusion: Stigma associated with HIV/AIDS hinders nurses from providing the best possible nursing care to patients and demonstrates a need for continuing education.
Key Words: Stigma, Nurses; Nursing Care, HIV/AIDS
Perspectives of Jamaican nurses and decision makers on the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the nursing workforce
No full textObjective: To explore how the HIV and AIDS epidemic has affected the nursing workforce and the provision of HIV/AIDS nursing services in Jamaica.
Methods: A purposive sample of 20 frontline nurses, nurse managers and 9 decision makers was drawn from participating health institutions. Qualitative semi-structured interviews were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. A coding framework was developed which guided both descriptive and conceptual analysis.
Results: The majority of respondents reported that the HIV/AIDS epidemic created increased challenges to the provision of quality nursing care due to higher patient/nurse ratios, increased workload, emotional and physical burnout, greater risk of occupational injury and HIV infection. All respondents revealed that strict implementation of universal precautions was constrained by inadequate supplies of protective gears and equipment. Most of the respondents described stigma perpetrated by nurses towards individuals living with the disease. Conversely, some respondents reported a reduction in bias towards patients living with HIV/AIDS. Institutional responses to the epidemic included increased training in HIV/AIDS care and more rigorous application of standards and procedures for infection control; created new opportunities for nurse leadership in implementing programs and new job opportunities for nurses in Non Governmental Organizations involved in HIV and AIDS care.
Conclusion: Findings of this study suggest largely negative effects of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the nursing workforce as well as indirect positive outcomes. The negative impact on quality of care exists both on individual and institutional levels. Policies and organizational supports are required to reduce the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the nursing workforce.
Key Words: HIV, AIDS, Nursing Workforce, Decision Makers, Jamaic
Antioxidant Intake in Sickle Cell Disease
No full textObjectives: To determine whether there were differences in total dietary intake of antioxidants between clients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) and controls and to examine whether the total dietary intake of antioxidants in both groups was in keeping with recommended dietary intakes by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI).
Methods: This case-control study was conducted using a validated Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) among 42 clients with SCD and 42 normal controls who were matched for age and gender. Participants were clients with SCD of varying phenotypes – Thalassemia, HbSS and HbSc who were recruited from the Sickle Cell Unit at Tropical Medicine Research Unit and controls were healthy individuals free from SCD enlisted from the community and environs of The University of the West Indies.
Results: There were 65.5% female and 34.5 % male participants. The mean age of all participants was 35.4 years and their ages ranged from 18-69 years. There was no difference in age by group (p=0.19). The levels of intake of 12 antioxidants were examined (Vitamin B group, Vitamin E group, Vitamin C, Zinc, and Selenium). There were no statistical differences in the mean intake level of each antioxidant between controls and cases. The study also found that all participants consumed antioxidants in excess of Recommended Dietary Allowances with the exception of zinc (mean intake level= 14.4 µg/d; RDA= 55-70 µg/d).
Conclusion: There was no difference in the antioxidant intake between clients with SCD and their controls and the daily intake of both groups were higher than CFNI’s daily recommendations. The study indicates that participants had adequate and higher than RDA intake levels for antioxidants which facilitates cell turnover and Red Blood Cell formation in clients with Sickle Cell Disease
The Logic of Einstein's Equation in Boolean Algebra and the Compatibility Theory
Get PDFThis study assessed whether Einstein’s equation, E=mc², could retain its meaning when the logical equivalence sign, , replaced the equality sign,=, based on Boolean algebraic system. In other words, we analyzed whether E mc² could mean the same thing as E=mc².The study thus addressed the possible logical content of Einstein’s equation and juxtaposed the logic, E mc², with the maths and/or physics, E=mc², declaring them compatible. Here, we questioned whether E mc² means the same thing as E=mc². The result was, that logical equivalence based on Boolean equality suggests that energy is logically equivalent to mass x the speed of light squared, E mc². Thus, being equivalent, we declared the compatibility of E Mc² with E=Mc²
The Myal Principle: Erna Brodber’s Afro Caribbean Literary/Philosophical Discourse
Get PDFThis paper focuses on Brodber’s 1988 novel, Myal, and examines the ways in which the author’s literary work participates in the discourse of Afro-Caribbean philosophy by advancing an alternative worldview outside the logic of strictly Westernist theoretical models that are sometimes privileged in the still-emerging field of academic Afro-Caribbean philosophy. As its title suggests, the novel invokes the Afro-Caribbean syncretic religion, Myal, and, I argue, presents the re-articulation of an African/Afro-Caribbean cosmogony and worldview, with spirituality as its epicenter, which while the subject of spirituality has received some attention within Afro-Caribbean philosophical thought, it has seemingly occupied a subordinate discursive space
Neurofunctionalism, Neuroessentialism and the Explanatory Gap Argument
Get PDFMental states made the task of explaining the nature of the mind really difficult. The claim that they are ontologically separable from the brain states, which consists of neural entities, properties, interactions and processes in some particular regions of the brain, strengthens the dualist position that the physicalist denies. This paper examines the plausibility of neurofunctionalism and neuroessentialism as physicalist explanatory hypotheses to bridge the explanatory gap between mental states and brain states. If these hypotheses are sufficiently advanced, physicalism is further strengthened and threatens dualism. To achieve this, the first part of the paper restates the explanatory gap argument. The second develops neurofuctionalism and neuroessentialism as physicalist explanatory hypotheses. On the account of these hypotheses, the third part argues that the gap between mental state and brain state could be bridged. The conclusion reaffirms the plausibility of the physicalist hypotheses
Re-examining the Eurocentric Descriptions of Africa and the Imperative of Black Hypothesis
Get PDFThe description of Africa and Africans during the Enlightenment period by philosophers like David Hume, Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel suggests a kind of description which denotes Africans in a derogatory sense. For instance, Africans were described in a manner which suggests that they are irrational and sub-humans. Thus, these descriptions in recent times have birthed several movements, ranging from pan-Africanism and epistemological theories such as Afrocentrism, with the Black Hypothesis being one popular but recent response to the Eurocentric description of Africa. The thrust of this paper is to critically examine the Eurocentric description of Africa from the perspectives of Hume, Kant and Hegel, and to refute their claims using the Black Hypothesis as a paradigm. The paper asserts that the racial slurs against Africans by Enlightenment philosophers cannot be scientifically proven as there exist philosophical and anthropological discovered that have shown that Africa (Egypt) is the cradle of civilization. The concluding thesis of this paper is that the Black Hypothesis is another dimension to understanding how the Eurocentric description of Africa can be rejected
