M.A. / This study explores attitudes and fears of HIV counsellors towards HIV testing. A social constructionistic perspective was used to realize this objective. The researcher hoped to find out the following:  what attitudes and fears do HIV counselors( who have not tested for HIV), have towards HIV testing?  how the HIV counsellors’ attitudes and fears differ from those of the general population.  the environmental factors affecting their decision, their vulnerability to HIV and what can facilitate their willingness to test.  what strategies can be used (from the HIV counsellors’ point of view), to change those attitudes and alleviate those fears so that all HIV counsellors can be willing to undergo voluntary HIV testing. Tape recorded interviews were conducted with the HIV counsellors who have not tested for HIV. It was evident in the study that there are attitudes and fears towards HIV testing which are common to the HIV counselors and the general population, and those which are peculiar to HIV counselors because of the nature of their job. Also evident in the study is the fact that HIV counsellors are vulnerable to contracting HIV and therefore could reap the benefits of knowing their HIV status by undergoing the HIV test. The researcher together with the HIV counsellors co-designed strategies that will address those attitudes and fears so that HIV counsellors can be encouraged to undergo voluntary HIV testing. Since the study was conducted only in the community clinics, the findings cannot be generalized to all HIV counsellors. The recommendations based on the findings are that a similar study should be done and should cover a much wider and broader context to determine if such a study can yield similar results.

D.Cur. / The nurses who work in the hospitals are constantly in interaction with the patients. As the HIV infection has now reached the AIDS phase, most people who were infected five to ten years back are now sick due to HIV/AIDS compromised conditions. The statistics inform us that mostly young people are dying. This has reversed nature, in that elders are now burying the youth. The HIV/AIDS infected people who are ill are admitted to general hospitals for health care. At present the patients are cared for in the general wards with other patients who may not be HIV/AIDS infected. In the hospitals they are cared for by the health team, of which the nurses are with these patients for 24 hours a day. This study focused on the interaction between nurses and admitted patients who are HIV/AIDS positive. The patients may have been admitted due to opportunistic diseases or any other illnesses. Most patients with HIV/AIDS suffer from opportunistic diseases, pain and stress. Nurses become aware of the patient’s HIV/AIDS status for health care reasons. Nurses are in most institutions the first contact in health care. Therefore the nurses are engaged in established relationships with patient, families, friends and the community for the purpose of the provision of health care services. These relationships entail interaction. The interaction between the nurse and the patients plays a major role in the care of the patient. This interaction between the nurses and patients entails a number of aspects, such as communication, be it verbal or non-verbal. The latter includes behavioural and affective aspects, such as attitudes, the way care is provided and how the parties feel about the interaction. Nursing is a human interaction. In this interaction the nurse and the patient build a therapeutic relationship, resulting in assistance to facilitate the wellbeing of the patient and rapid recovery. The HIV /Aids infection affects the patient as a whole because of the stigma attached to the disease, therefore the affected patients need to be assisted in order to cope with the illness and its consequences. Therefore the purpose of the study was to: • To explore and describe the nurses’ and patients’ (who are HIV AIDS infected) experience of their interaction. • To develop and describe a model that would assist the nurses to facilitate the promotion of mental health in patients who are HIV/AIDS infected. A theory generation research which is qualitative, descriptive and explorative and contextual in nature was conducted with permission from the Department of Health authorities, hospital authorities, admitted patients with HIV/AIDS, the NGO that looks after the patients in the community after discharge, the nurses who work in the general wards and the University of Johannesburg Ethical and Research committee. Pilot interviews were conducted with one nurse-participant and patientparticipant that met the selection criteria.