[HIV/AIDS children living in shelters under the perspective of humanistic nursing]

This article views the life of HIV/AIDS children in shelters under the perspective of the Humanistic Nursing Theory. This is a qualitative study with an existential-phenomenological-humanistic approach based on the Nursology of Paterson and Zderad. The scenario was a shelter for HIV/AIDS children located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Information was collected using phenomenological interview carried out with three children with AIDS. This article presents part of the interpretation of the obtained information centered in two meaning units. The results provided an understanding of the child's play as way of feeling better in the environment of the shelter because the child perceives himself/herself as part of that environment with others. It also gives visibility to children with HIV/AIDS in shelters, and highlights the importance of including this theme in undergraduate courses, training health professionals in humanistic care, and managers to develop specific public policies for this population.