Drawn to the field of STD research because it “affects the human condition as a whole – health, psychology and social environment,” she noted that certain STDs tend to be passed around within specific closed communities, such as a college campus, the nightclub scene or the correctional facility. While it is well know that screening reduces the likelihood of transmitting HIV and bacterial STDs, Mark wondered whether wide-scale, voluntary screening also could help reduce the incidence of the transmission of genital herpes, HSV-2, a viral, often silent STD. that puts people at greater risk for HIV infection. She began her inquiry on a college campus, assessing how to motivate student participation in STD screening and the performance characteristics of the HSV test in college students , reported in the Journal of American College Health and Sexually Transmitted Disease, respectively. Results suggested that to be successful, information about the availability of screening for HSV-2 should be neutral in tone and informative, transmitted broadly by a trusted source such as a student health center. Further, Mark’s finding that a diagnosis of HVS-2 often causes significant emotional and social difficulty (social break-ups, depression, and anxiety) led her to recommend the value of both immediate and follow-up counseling to address both the medical and psychological aspects of infection.
Mark believes nurses are ideally poised to break through the silence that so often surrounds STDs. She notes, “Because we are trained to help people feel comfortable in an uncomfortable medical environment, we can help open the door to STD prevention as well as to screening and treatment. Part of what we do is help people talk about difficult health topics by providing a nonjudgmental environment in which knowledge can be shared. It’s a great model of how nurses work to promote the public health.”