Aiming to identify the conditioning factors of nursing workers' adherence to precaution/isolation in caregiving, this descriptive study was conducted with the target population consisted of nurses representing medium-sized and large hospitals in the city of Sao Paulo. Of the 79 institutions that met the established criteria, 15 (18.98%) comprised the sample of the study. In a collective meeting, the focal group technique was used for data collection. After obtaining t he participants' consent, discussions were recorded on cassette tapes and then transcribed. Data was organized as proposed by Bardin (1977), thematic units were extracted and two empirical analysis categories were defined, which were termed institutional and individual conditioners.
Safety; Acquired Immunodeficiency Sindromes; Hepatitis; Universal Precautions; Nursing