Every day Government nurse Ms Gaylia Landry goes quietly into the community to help dozens of Bermudians deal with the fact they are dying of AIDS.

For her work this past year, which saw a worrying rise in the number of people acquiring AIDS through straight sex, she was nominated Nurse of the Year by the Bermuda Nurses Association.

The Bermudian mother of three accepted the award yesterday at a banquet at the Palm Reef Hotel.

Though Ms Landry has only headed the Department of Health's HIV/AIDS care team for two years, she is not new at dealing with the killer disease.

She saw two of the first five cases of AIDS in America while working at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Southern California in the 1970s and early 1980s.

And in 1985, she opened the first AIDS care facility in Southern California.

She returned to the Island two years ago.

The biggest challenge she faced back then is still the same one she faces today: "Trying to get rid of the stigma attached to the illness.'' Ms Landry and her five-member team are forced to be discreet about their jobs because of fears of the neighbours and relatives of their 70-100 patients.

She has often had confrontations with residents upset at having someone with AIDS living near or with them.

"I hope the day will soon come when people treat someone with AIDS the same as they would someone with cancer,'' she said.

Ms Landry has not had any personal experiences with AIDS to motivate her into helping people who are HIV-positive or have the disease. "AIDS chose me,'' she says.

Most nurses are wary of working with people with AIDS because of the stress of having to deal the inevitable deaths of their patients, she noted. "It takes a special kind of nurse,'' she said. "You have to keep them comfortable and psychologi cally well. Get them to comply with their medication and make them understand they can live long with HIV if they do certain things to keep healthy.'' A nursing support group is what keeps her going, she said. The nurs es meet regularly to share experiences.

A big challenge facing the Health Department in the 1990s, Ms Landry feels, is trying to get the message through to people not to have unprotected sex with new partners.

Most of her patients now have acquired AIDS not by IV drug use or blood transfusions, but through sexual intercourse, she said.

"People just won't change their behaviour, they don't think they are at risk,'' she said.

Bermuda has accomplished a great deal to make life more comfortable for AIDS sufferers -- especially with the opening of the hospice, Ms Landry said.

However, she would like to see more done to bring down the cost of medicines for her patients.

Although people with AIDS are given the drug AZT for free, they must pay for any other medicines they need to fight off infections.

Ms Landry feels Government should supply the Department with more money so it can subsidise the high cost of the medicines.

Ms Gaylia Landry.