Achieving a Sense of Control in a Context of Uncertainty: Nurses and AIDS

Abstract

This article describes how nurses cope with their concerns about acquiring HIV infection when caring for persons with AIDS (PWAs). In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 nurses who had cared for PWAs in an active treatment hospital in a Western Canadian city. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative methodology of grounded theory. The findings suggest that nurses work to create and maintain a sense of control by making risk manageable through the use of behavioral and cognitive coping strategies. More specifically, nurses maximize their safety through the use of precautions, reappraise risk as less threatening, and distance from situations that tend to elicit fear. The article concludes with suggestions for further research and implications for practice.