Nurse caring behaviors for persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome/human immunodeficiency virus

The purpose of this study was to identify nurse caring behaviors desired by patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositive. Forty-six adults with either a diagnosis of AIDS or HIV-seropositive participated in the study. Subjects indicated "treat me as an individual" as the highest scoring item. Themes derived from the data included acceptance, respect, treatment of the person as an individual, and nonjudgmental attitudes of the nurse toward the person with AIDS/HIV.