Reply by Chanda and Gosnell to Muula on "The Impact of Tuberculosis on Zambia and the Zambian Nursing Workforce"

We thank you for the interest you have shown in our Online Journal on Issues in Nursing article. We are happy to respond to your queries. First, one of the limitations of the study is that the HIV status of the nurses was not established during the study. This is because the nurses were not opting for Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) and as such did not submit to HIV testing.

Secondly, the Zambia Nurses Association and the Norwegian Nurses Association are currently implementing a project called 'Caring for Carers,' which has resulted in establishing VCT centers in several parts of the country. The main purpose of this project is to encourage nurses to opt for VCT. Hopefully this will increase the number of nurses in Zambia who request HIV testing. Although the results of this project have not yet been published, we anticipate that the project outcomes will have policy implications, such as the deploying of HIV-infected nurses to safer clinical areas.

Thanks again for your queries,

Dorothy Chanda
and
Davina Gosnell