'It's just a finger prick'

Finding out I was HIV positive nearly 20 years ago meant I put my plans to become a midwife on hold. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever fulfil my career dream because of my diagnosis and back then was unsure what the future held.

Thankfully, the rules around being HIV positive and nurse training changed and now, if someone is taking the correct anti-retroviral medication, their HIV status can be undetectable. I’m now a nursing associate, training to become a registered nurse and hopefully, one day, a midwife.

Getting a test for HIV is very quick and there are plenty of ways to get one, not just at GP surgeries, but at community halls and shopping centres, especially when it’s National HIV Testing Week as there’s a drive to get people tested.

I found out I had HIV through routine pregnancy blood tests, but many people don’t realise they need to get tested specifically for HIV. They might think because they’ve had a recent blood test, they’re fine, but that might not be the case.

As nursing staff, we can encourage people to get tested

It’s very important people are tested specifically for STIs (sexually transmitted infections). People can live for a long time without any signs of having the virus, so it’s vital to get tested to stop it being passed on and get treatment.

This World AIDS Day, I hope more people get tested. Previously, I have been out canvassing and raising awareness of how easy it is to get a test. It’s just a finger prick.

As nursing staff, we can encourage people to get tested and make sure they have support if they’re HIV positive. Things have changed a lot in 30 years and there isn’t the same stigma attached to having HIV.

Of course, some people do continue to have outdated ideas about HIV, thinking it means that they will never have a relationship, have children or do the job they want, but I am living proof that you can do all these things - and none of my children have HIV.

Many people get a flu jab or now a COVID-19 vaccine, so getting a quick finger prick test for HIV isn’t much different to that.