Patients, nurses can tap into AIDS/HIV resources

The Body: An AIDS and HIV Information Resource (www.thebody.com) is a comprehensive site for people with HIV or AIDS and the nurses who work with them.

More than 250 HIV/AIDS topics are included under categories that define AIDS, list demographic data, offer information on HIV testing and suggest steps to take after diagnosis.

Medical dictionaries and databases that relate to HIV are included on the site. You can access the latest information on treatment strategies and specific treatment issues, such as those pertaining to women, pregnancy and newborns, or pediatrics.

Research and experimental drugs and alternative and holistic treatments also are covered. A bulletin board is available for HIV patients who want to connect with one another.

Posted on the site is an interactive question and answer forum hosted by leading experts in the field of HIV/AIDS.

How kids cope
Band-aides & Blackboards (www.faculty.fairfield.edu/fleitas) was developed by Joan Fleitas, Ed.D., RN, associate professor of nursing at Fairfield (Conn.) University to help people understand what it's like for children with chronic illness and medical problems to attend school.

Colorful and easy to navigate, this site is divided into "frog ponds." Stories written by children give insight into how they deal with chronic illness on a day-to-day basis. In one section, children give advice to the nurses.

The site is divided into categories designed for children, teens, adults, parents, health care providers and siblings.

Critical thinking
This site (nursing.umaryland.edu/students) [Click "~jkohl" then scroll down to "A Case Scenario for Critical Care"] presents a critical care scenario that allows visiting nurses to practice critical-thinking skills.

Participants in this exercise read the scenario and must triage the needs of multiple patients.

For example, do you take care of the patient with chest pain or shortness of breath first?

A series of screens provides information and then asks the reader to perform various tasks and provide opinions as to what should happen next. The case is taken through assessment, diagnosis, management and follow-up of a clinically based problem.

The reader makes decisions based on patient assessment and receives immediate feedback as to the appropriateness of the treatment and differential diagnosis.

Life-support update
This Advanced Cardiac Life Support Unofficial Guide (www.acls2000.org) provides an update of the latest in ACLS, cardiac resuscitations and emergency cardiology. It features a quick summary of all ACLS updates.

A link to the official version of the new guidelines is included. Lectures covering topics associated with the ACLS protocols can be printed. Six code cases are available, based on real codes run by Paul Lee, a cardiologist who developed the site.

As you work through the scenarios, they become increasingly complicated.

Nursing programs list
A listing of nursing programs throughout the country is available at www.nursinghands.com.

Under the CE and Education option, select Education Resources and then click on Nursing School Programs.

Choose from six types of nursing programs-associate, baccalaureate, baccalaureate for nurses who already have an RN license, diploma, master's and doctorate programs. Check out the programs available in different states.

After clicking on a particular program you will find the name of the college or university, a contact person, a link to the local Web site, information on student enrollment for previous years and residential and nonresidential tuition.

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