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Our Nurse of the Week is Linda Girard, a retired nurse who recently received a reward for her generous contributions to the HIV/AIDS community . Girard recalls wanting to be a nurse since the age of 12, a dream she fulfilled before spending four decades of her life caring for others. Although she retired in 2011, she has remained an advocate and volunteer with the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network.

Over the course of her career, Girard oversaw nurses in critical care units and behavioral health hospitals. Outside of her many decades in nursing, Girard spent 25 years volunteering in HIV/AIDS awareness and support. She was recently selected to receive the Center for Health and Hope’s 2018 Leadership Award for extraordinary service as an active and long serving volunteer in Southern Arizona’s HIV community.

Girard tells Tucson.com, “The discovery of new medications are helping people live better and longer. There still is an epidemic. People are more susceptible to diseases because of the virus living in their body. They age more rapidly. HIV is hard on the body. Nothing is easy living with HIV.”

The Center for Health and Hope is a faith-based organization in Colorado that supports and advocates for persons around the world infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. The Center addresses the challenges of the pandemic through programs of awareness, education, prevention, care, and treatment.

To learn more about Girard’s career in nursing and time spent volunteering and advocating for the HIV/AIDS community, visit here.

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