World AIDS Day 2019: The nursing community making a difference

November 26, 2019

World AIDS Day, December 1, has been designated every year since 1998 to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS and memorialize those who have died of the disease. This year’s theme is “Communities Make the Difference.” For decades, the community formed by Rutgers School of Nursing—its faculty, health care providers, staff, students, and alumni—has been a trailblazer in the battle to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Screening of 5B Documentary on December 5

To help commemorate World AIDS Day 2019 and shine the spotlight on the nursing profession’s leadership in fighting HIV/AIDS, Rutgers School of Nursing will co-host The Duty to Care: Nursing in the Early Years of the AIDS Epidemic. The free, public event includes a documentary film screening and interactive discussion, to be held Thursday, December 5, beginning 7:30 p.m. at Rutgers’ College Avenue Student Center, 126 College Avenue, New Brunswick. Register for the screening and onsite parking.

The featured film is 5B, an inspirational documentary about the nation’s first HIV/AIDS hospital ward, established at San Francisco General Hospital in the early 1980s.

Cliff Morrison, a founder of Ward 5B, will speak at the December 5 event, joined by Suzanne Willard (PhD, APN-C, FAAN), associate dean for global health; and Peter Oates (MSN, RN, NP-C), director of health care services, François-Xavier Bagnoud Center, Rutgers School of Nursing.

HIV/AIDS Initiatives at Rutgers School of Nursing

Rutgers School of Nursing is a leader in HIV education and training; research; prevention; and treatment. Its initiatives include:

François-Xavier Bagnoud Center (FXB Center)—focuses on collaborative development of sustainable programs for vulnerable women, children, youth and families, including those affected by HIV. The FXB Center is the home of the AIDS Education and Training Center (AETC) National Coordinating Resource Center (NCRC); Newark-based FXB Center health services, and other important HIV-related programs.

Rutgers Interdisciplinary Center for HIV Research (RICHR)—supports and promotes collaboration on HIV-related research conducted by faculty, staff, and students at Rutgers University and beyond.

Advanced Practice Nursing Specialization—one the first such programs to be established in the U.S., this program educates Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students to provide primary patient care, focusing on patients living with HIV. Current nurse practitioners may pursue the program as a specialty certificate.

duty to care event graphic