The first duty is to protect the patient. The nurse has a duty to provide warning to the patient who has experienced an exposure to sero-positive blood. Support and protection of the nurse with a positive sero-status as well as those who convert following exposure by an occupational incident has been a long standing position of the association. ANA supports the application of confidentiality to all information about the HIV infected nurse or nursing personnel.
Nursing has a long history of assistance to the ill and vulnerable.
Society has come to rely on nurses and to expect that they will meet the public's health needs on virtually any occasion. ANA supports the patients' right to equitable, safe, and humanistic care. For assistance in resolving the question of risk versus responsibility in the matters of transmission of HIV infection to a patient, nurses must turn to the field of ethics for guidance. The health and safety of the client are the primary foci for nursing assessment and intervention. This assessment includes specific attention to the rights and best interests of clients.