Balancing judicial interests in HIV cases: Part 2, Issues for nurse administrators

Legal issues involving human immunodeficiency virus are consuming an increasing amount of the attention of hospitals and nurse administrators. At times, the legal interests of patients, staff, and administrators conflict, and it is the duty of healthcare administrators to determine which interests should prevail. Recently, two courts have dealt with this problem. In a previous article (JONA October 1995), the author discussed the first case, which involved antidiscrimination versus workplace safety. In this article, the author discusses the second case, which also involves issues of antidiscrimination and workplace safety, but with a decidedly different twist. She identifies the legal dilemma and suggests ways in which nurse administrators can recognize and reconcile such conflicts.