Anticipating care for HIV-infected clients: nurses' reactions

This study assessed nurses' reactions to the possibility of working with HIV-infected clients by the use of a sentence-completion format. A random sample of 2,434 nurses was completed with 502 (20.6%) nurses who provided 3,180 responses on the survey tool. Card sorting was used to discover themes that included positive, neutral, and negative reactions. The thematic categories that evolved from the data were: caring (899 responses, 28%), care as usual (1198 responses, 37.6%), and avoidance (1083 responses, 34%). More than 88% of the respondents provided statements that were sorted into at least two of the thematic categories; more than 51% gave responses that sorted into all three of the major categories. This qualitative research project revealed that these nurses, when confronted with an anticipation of caring for HIV-infected clients, held a wide variety of opinions and concerns that were often expressed simultaneously.