RESUMO
The main objective of the study was to relate the attitudes of nursing staff towards HIV positive and AIDS patients to the nurses' age; sex; religious affiliation and marital status. 211 nurses were randomly selected for the study form all health centres and the only District hospital in Nyeri; Kenya. Information was collected using a self-administered questionnaire; with the help and/or supervision of the investigators. There was statistically significant relationship between marital status of the nurses and the need to keep the HIV status of the patient confidential. 69 of the nurses said that it was not necessary to observe confidentiality for a number of reasons. Out of the 31 of those who said taht confidentiality was necessary; 83 were married. Nurses' expressed fear of contracting AIDS through casual contact did not have a significant relationship with christian denomination to which they were affiliated. 32 of the nurses said that one could get AIDS through casual contact. Other parameters are presented and discussed in this paper. It is evident that nurses need to be more enlightened on AIDS facts in order to improve on the quality of nursing care for HIV/AIDS patients