Vent

I am going to vent.  About one thing.  That's all.  Ok, here goes: The other night I had a patient.  When I asked for her medical history, in the privacy of her hospital room, no one else around, she said "I have a [sic] infection".  "Okaaaaay" I replied, "where is this infection?".  "My whole body" she said.  "I'm sorry ma'am, but could you be a little more specific?  Is this like a cold?  A yeast infection?  How long have you had it?  Who diagnosed it?" I asked, obviously trying to dig a little deeper.  At that point she got huffy and mad and just kept repeating "It's in my whole body!".  "Does this infection have a name?" I asked. "No, it's just a [sic] infection" she said.  So in my nursing notes under the medical history I ended up putting in quotations "PT STATES SHE HAS AN INFECTION IN WHOLE BODY".  'Whatever' I thought.  Later, a source informed me that she was HIV+.  At that point I got really irritated.  Why would you intentionally withhold that information from people who #1 are trying to help you and #2 will come in contact with your bodily fluids that carry the disease??  She was obviously aware of the disease.  I just don't get it.  This is not the first time I have had patients that refuse to tell or admit to the doctors and/or nurses that they have HIV or AIDs, and if they are not telling us, then they are definitely not telling other people in their daily lives who should be concerned.  I don't know how many HIV+ patients with STD's I have treated.  I understand there is a stigma, and I understand not making it publicly known, but when health care professionals are trying to help you and will be exposed to the virus, wouldn't it seem like common courtesy to just say when asked about your medical history "I am HIV+"??  Or, heaven help them, the people these people are being intimate with while not using protection??  Stupidity is what is killing off people, not diseases.  People can be soooo frustrating.  Ok.  I am finished.  Thank you.