This is an interactive study which aimied at identifying the reactions and feelings of nurses/clients in relation to positive serum for HIV/AIDS. From the nurses's narratives emerged the following meanings: to have difficulty in interacting due to the fear of infection and death; to treat the client as a non-person; to act as an " informed " professional. From the individuals with positive serum, the following meanings were extracted from their discourses: to be non-equal; to accept victimization/self-exclusion; to impress by the use of manipulation and to be a normal deviant. This data served as groundwork for a reflection about their significances in light of the work Stigma: notes about the manipulation of the deteriorated identity, by Erwing Goffman and of the Resolution COFEn -160/93. The understanding of this phenomenon signals to defensive and excluding practices on both parts, based on the fear of death. The results indicate the need to carry out training and awareness workshops for health professionals in order to qualify them for a more holistic and humanitarian care that favors the (re)socialization of the positive serum individual.
stigma; preconceptions; nurses; positive serum; HIV/AIDS