Risk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Among AIDS Social Workers:

The focus of this paper is on how the stresses of working with an HIV affected population leave the AIDS workers at risk to a syndrome of thoughts and feelings that can be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Abstract

Hospital social workers that specialize in providing direct services to patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) have uniquely stressful jobs on the front lines of the epidemic. The focus of this paper is on how the stresses of working with an HIV affected population leave the AIDS workers at risk to a syndrome of thoughts and feelings that can be associated with posttraumatic stress disorder. The authors will identify the nature of these symptoms and recommend an array of organizational responses to prevent the worker for experiencing these stress reactions and support those who are already experiencing symptomatology.