Nurse clinician is perhaps the most familiar image of a nurse. Educated, trained and licensed to provide direct care to patients and clients, clinical nurses evaluate, treat and help manage both acute injury or illness and chronic disease. Additionally, advanced practice registered nurses can diagnose, develop treatment plans and prescribe medications for patients.
Nurses provide direct clinical care in numerous settings. We provide clinical services in the ER or urgent care, out-patient clinics and health centers, hospice and home care, prisons, long term care facilities, schools and hospitals. Clinical nurses often work as part of an interdisciplinary team of healthcare professionals and are an integral component of that team.
Clinical nurses are skilled in managing patients and clients with increasingly complex medical and social needs. They are experts in many roles from compassionate healer to navigator to teacher to advocate. Without question, nurses as clinicians are a cornerstone of healthcare.
How does ANAC support nurse clinicians?
Since ANAC’s founding in 1987, our mission is to foster the professional development of nurses involved in the delivery of healthcare for people with HIV and its co-morbidities.
Through online resources, chapter activities, our annual conference, ANAC committee work and live and virtual educational events delivered by ANAC member experts, we provide education to strengthen the nurse clinician’s capacity to provide quality, evidence-based HIV prevention and treatment services. We also highlight and share the clinical expertise of our members as faculty in these initiatives. Nursing practice in HIV requires a complex knowledge base and range of skills, including pathophysiology, cultural humility, learning principles, family and interpersonal dynamics, the intersections with co-occurring conditions and social determinants of health, grief and loss, coping with chronic illness and evolving therapeutics. Our approach to professional development embraces all of this and our members demonstrate this understanding and compassionate caring in the work they do.
We have developed a comprehensive
HIV and Aging Program including learning modules, webinars and a Scholars Program to foster the clinical knowledge on HIV & aging. ANAC recognizes excellence and achievement in various aspects of clinical practice each year through our
member-nominated awards. The clinical expertise of ANAC members is featured regularly in evidenced-based, peer reviewed articles published in the
Journal of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care (JANAC) on approaches to preventions and treatment.
Part of the ANAC network is the
HIV/AIDS Nursing Certification Board (HANCB), which is committed to promoting health equity and excellence in nursing through certification. Certification allows nurses to demonstrate their expertise and skills in HIV primary care, as well as their dedication to excellence in patient care, education and research.
Through our local chapters, committees, mentorship opportunities, conference or virtual sessions, ANAC has created and fosters an engaged network of nurses working in HIV/AIDS Care. We salute your compassionate and expert clinical care for people living with or affected by HIV.
