17 April 2010
By Vishakha Sharma
Working around HIV–infected patients isn’t easy, but nurses at Sassoon General Hospital are keeping up the good work

Pune Mirror spoke to the nurses of Sassoon General Hospital working for the HIV patients, asking if they faced any problems from their families because of their work atmosphere.
Linita Gaikwad, one of the nurses working for the HIV patients in Sassoon said, “My family is really very supportive of my working with HIV patients. They not only accept my work, but also respect it at the same time. AIDS is not new in our country and almost everyone here knows everything about it. When I had told my husband what i wanted to do, he did not object even once.”
“Whatever fears and uncertainty was there, was only within me. Initially, when I had started working with these patients, there was a little hesitation in my mind, but now it is not there anymore. We give them injections and are around them almost for the whole day. No one is scared here,” she added.

“It is our moral duty to help these patients which is why the moment we enter the hospital, we forget about everything else and concentrate on our jobs. Most of these patients experience various kinds of health problems. They undergo trauma, stigma and rejection by family members and friends. So, we have to take care of them and make every possible effort to keep their spirits up, and our families understand this quite well,” she added.
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