Hey, that's no big deal. NURSES in hospitals often do not know if a patient is HIV+! This information can be withheld from the patient's medical record. So, if a patient is admitted for a surgical procedure, and does not want the staff to know he/she is HIV+, they will not know it. ALL patients are treated as if they are HIV+ and this is supposed to prevent transmission (Universal Precautions). This makes sense since some patients themselves may not know they have the virus.
The truth is, there are times when staff allow other priorities to take over, like when there's a Code Blue (cardiac arrest). At these times, some staff do not take adequate precautions. However, I DO. Nothing, not even a life and death emergency, can cause me to forego Universal Precautions.