The experiences of nurses providing community home-based palliative care to persons living with HIV/Aids in Botswana

Abstract

Prior to the HIV/AIDS epidemic that swept Africa in the 1980s, Botswana had one of the most effective healthcare systems in the developing world. Within a decade of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Botswana's health system was overwhelmed, resulting in a reversal of the country's health indices. The epidemic significantly affected the way healthcare was delivered in the country. The rise in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), and the emergence of the host of non-communicable chronic diseases that accompany AIDS, has left hospitals in Botswana struggling to cope with the number of patients needing on-going care. HIV/AIDS has had a huge effect on the management of people with chronic illnesses, and has led to the establishment of palliative and community palliative care programs in Botswana. As a result, patients have returned to their communities, where they receive community home-based care (CHBC) delivered by nurses, family members and volunteers. The current study was undertaken to better understand the CHBC nurses' views on the issues that affect them while delivering palliative care in the community to terminally-ill patients living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana. The aim of the study was to explore the phenomenon of CHBC for PLWHAs in Botswana from the perspective of nurses delivering palliative care. The research question was: What is the lived experience of nurses delivering CHBC palliative care to PLWHAs in Botswana?