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“My grandfather has AIDS and was told he needs home health care. Can I arrange for a nurse to start coming by?"
The Visiting AIDS Nurse Service of New York has been providing AIDS health care and HIV Care services to persons with HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic. On any given day, we provide a comprehensive range of health and supportive care services to more than 1,700 patients - men, women and children - with HIV/AIDS.
Our care includes skilled AIDS nurse care, rehabilitation therapy and psychiatric counseling as well as community outreach to well children who live in a family impacted by the disease. Faced with a growing number of families in which a mother has HIV/AIDS, in 1997 we developed an innovative family-centered HIV/AIDS program that takes a holistic approach to families with HIV/AIDS.
Through this model AIDS health and HIV care program, we coordinate services to both the mother and child, thus eliminating the fragmented care that these families experienced before admission to VNSNY home care.
Nation's Largest Provider of Home Health Care Services to Persons With HIV/AIDS
Since the first outbreak of AIDS in 1981, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York has provided home health care services to individuals and families with HIV infection. In 1985, a formal program of HIV/AIDS home health care was developed, utilizing the interdisciplinary resources available within our agency. While the epidemic is constantly changing, our commitment to people with HIV/AIDS and our ability to provide the best care possible remain unchanged. Today, we're the nation's largest provider of home health care to persons with HIV/AIDS. We work closely with hospitals, physicians, managed care organizations and community-based agencies throughout the greater New York City area to provide the highest quality care to persons with HIV/AIDS.
We have the resources and capabilities to provide:
- Round-the-clock skilled nursing care
- Home attendant/home health aide services
- Mental health services
- Social work services
- Substance abuse counseling
- Physical, occupational and speech therapy
- Prenatal and postpartum care for pregnant women
- Nutritional counseling
- Homemaker's support
Our innovative HIV/AIDS programs include:
- AIDS Long Term Home Health Care Program (AIDS LTHHCP)
- Pediatric Respite Program
- AIDS Mental Health Program
- Family-centered HIV Services and Support
- Treatment Education/Medication Adherence Program
Our HIV/AIDS experience includes
- Of the approximately 27,000 New Yorkers who receive our home health care services on a weekly basis, 1,700 have a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS.
- We provide home health care services to more than 50 percent of New York City's HIV/AIDS population.
- In 1997, we served more than 4,000 men, women and children with HIV/AIDS. We deliver our services not only in houses and apartments, but also in congregate-living facilities, single-room occupancy residencies, and shelters for families.
The nation's first research on many HIV/AIDS issues was conducted and published by our HIV/AIDS clinical staff.
Our research has included:
- Identifying the clinical needs of adults with HIV/AIDS in New York City - 1994
- Mental health needs of adults with HIV/AIDS referred for home care - 1994
- Nursing diagnoses in HIV/AIDS home health care - 1995
- Predictors of home health care service costs in adults living with HIV/AIDS in New York City - 1996
- Errors in prescribing HIV-1 protease inhibitors - 1997
- Interventions to enhance self-medication management - now in progress...
Keeping updated on the latest HIV/AIDS care techniques and procedures.
Our AIDS services staff provides, on an annual basis, formal education programs for more than 2,000 professional and paraprofessional Visiting Nurse Service of New York clinical staff. Since 1987, we have also been providing clinical training in HIV/AIDS care to caregivers from hospitals, nursing homes and day care programs in the greater New York metropolitan area, as well as in Connecticut and New Jersey.
Each year, we provide:
- A two-day basic HIV/AIDS training program for all newly hired VNSNY staff
- An advanced one-day course for all incumbent staff on antiretroviral therapy and strategies to enhance compliance
- A one-day training course for home health aides and home attendants who will be caring for people living with HIV/AIDS
- Specialty training courses for occupational, speech, and rehabilitation therapists, and social workers
In addition to the above, we have published more than 40 articles and two textbooks on HIV/AIDS care
Our HIV/AIDS services are available to residents of:
- Bronx
- Brooklyn
- Manhattan
- Queens
- Staten Island
- Nassau County
- Westchester County
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