Increasing the education of nursing staff is a society-wide issue, influenced by continuous development of medicine and medical technologies. The provision of nursing care is rightly demanding. The only way to keep up with new trends is lifelong nursing education. Nursing education in a particular workplace primarily aims at addressing current problems of the department and nurses? needs. The theoretical part deals with the influence of education on the quality of nursing care. We present a structure of education of paramedical professions. We define and clarify terms such as pedagogy, didactics, education and learning. We deal with the specifics of education, didactic principles and principles of adult education. In addition, we specify instructional strategies for nursing staff. For the purposes of this thesis, four objectives were set. In the first one we wanted to find out what the system and process of nursing education in the department looks like. The research showed that educational events are held in all departments. The organizing departments mostly report irregular or monthly frequency. The aim of the second objective was to obtain an opinion on the effectiveness of education in the department. We found disparity between the views of ordinary nurses and head nurses. The third objective was to answer the question of whether the organized educational events are initiated by the nurses? requests. Based on the answers of head nurses and ordinary nurses, we found out that this is not always the case. The last objective was to determine whether nurses implement the knowledge and skills gained to routine nursing care. The questionnaires showed that ordinary nurses try to incorporate the knowledge and skills to routine nursing care. For the purposes of this thesis, the combination of qualitative and quantitative research was selected. In order to carry out the qualitative part of the research, the method of questioning, using the technique of semi-structured interview with open questions was chosen. For the issue of quantitative research, the method of questioning, using the questionnaire technique with closed and semi-closed questions was used. For qualitative research, we set two research questions. In the first research question we wanted to find out what impetus the management uses when planning education in the hospital and the department. We found out that most often it is initiated by head nurses and ward nurses. In the second research question, we examined what obstacles the management sees to the effectiveness of education and implementation of the knowledge and skills gained into practice. Head nurses identify a problem in the actual participation in education in the department. For quantitative research, we set five hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 was: Nursing education in the workplace is an activity organized by the management regardless of the ordinary nurses? requests. The hypothesis was not confirmed. Hypothesis 2 was: Management, unlike ordinary nurses, sees the effectiveness of education in the workplace positively. The hypothesis was not confirmed either. The third hypothesis was: Education is seen as a necessary, routine activity, not as motivating factor for improving the quality of nursing care. The hypothesis was not confirmed. The last hypothesis was: Implementation of the knowledge gained from the educational events into nursing care is monitored by the management. The hypothesis was not confirmed, the implementation of knowledge is monitored, but not to the extent we expected. When evaluating the results we came across other very interesting facts, which we believe deserve more attention. Finally, it is surprising that the organization of educational events does not reflect nurses? shifts. One of the reasons for this might be the fact that some head nurses do not prepare the plan and time schedule for nursing education. We tried to propose the time schedule of nurses education in deparments.

The diploma thesis deals with the issues of nursing care and the nurse?s position in the complex process of transplantation. Transplantation treatment becomes more important in the course of time. There are such situations that there is no other choice of restoring and saving the health of the sick person but to transplant. The complex process of transplantation is a chain of successive operations in which not only many doctors but also other medical and paramedical staff are involved and they constantly interact not only with the patient. Classically, the largest group in providing patient care is general nurses who assume the responsibility for the direct provision of nursing care, work independently and are responsible for the care provided. Their work requires a deep knowledge of the branch and many professional activities without suppressing their original mission. Today?s nurse is a full member of the team and the doctor?s partner in practicing his or her profession. The theoretical part deals comprehensively with the issues of the removal of organs especially from deceased donors, their transplantation and legislation in the Czech Republic and especially with the role of a nurse which she has in this process. An objective of the research survey was to map whether a nurse really felt to be the doctor?s partner in this challenging branch of providing nursing care and what their attitudes towards practicing their own profession in this branch were and to map the extensiveness of their knowledge and educational opportunities in these issues. Another objective was to map the attitudes of patients themselves towards care in the transplantation treatment process. In the research survey a quantitative method was used and applied by distributing questionnaires to general nurses working at a department of transplantation medicine. The results of the questionnaire survey were processed to create well-arranged tables. The qualitative part of the research survey was carried out through interviews with patients who are in the transplantation treatment process. The interviews were processed in writing and the results were summarized in mind maps.

The thesis focused on the issues of nursing care of children with serious combined handicap. Thanks to scientific progress in the field of medicine and nursing care lives of children with such a handicap are extending. This is why correct understanding of the issue, its link to nursing care, but also finding the right approach to these children and their parents are so important. The theoretical part deals with nursing care in paediatrics, needs of handicapped children and their families, specifics of communication and complex care of children with combined handicap. Three goals were set within the research. The first goal was to find out the experience and opinions of nurses related to specifics of nursing care of children with serious combined handicap. The second goal was to map services provided to parents of children with serious combined handicap in Prague and in the Central Bohemia Region. The third goal was to map the problems of cooperation between nurses and parents taking care about a child with serious combined handicap. Qualitative research was used in the empiric part of the thesis. We used a questioning method in the form of semi standardized interview. The first test sample consisted of 9 nurses working in facilities providing care to children with serious combined handicap in Prague and Central Bohemia. There were nurses from a child centre, a social service centre, a paediatric neurology ambulatory surgery and a paediatric neurology ward. The second research sample consisted of 9 parents caring for children under 18 years of age with the third or fourth dependence degree. An open coding technique ? the paper & pencil method ? was used for processing the interviews. Document analysis was applied to mapping the services in Prague and Central Bohemia. Three research questions were set: 1 - What experience do nurses providing care to children with serious combined handicap have? 2 - What services are available to parents with children with serious combined handicap in Prague and Central Bohemia? 3 - How does cooperation between a nurse and parents caring about a child with serious combined handicap work? The quantitative research results show clearly that nursing care of children with serious combined handicap has its specifics in the field of communisation, in the files of the needs of the children and their families and is affected by obstacles to the care and competence of nurses caring for these children. Answers of the nurses and the children differ in some cases. The interviews with the respondents showed that cooperation is based on mutual information, education in nursing procedures, mutual confidence and involvement of the family in the care for the handicapped child. Answers of the respondents were identical in the category of cooperation between nurses and parents. The second aim was to map the services provided to parents of children with serious combined handicap. We found 48 facilities upon document analysis, of which 9 were in Prague and 39 in the Central Bohemia region. A table and a map where the individual facilities are located were prepared upon content analysis and consequently a graph describing the form of the care provided there. The research results will be provided to nursing managements of the facilities that showed interest during the research and presented in specialized seminars. An informative brochure for parents of the children and nurses providing nursing care to children with serious combined handicap will be based on the information obtained during elaboration of the thesis.

The theoretical part deals with a complex problematics of venous port systems, its history, indications.. The empirical part focuses on the knowledge of the nursing staff and their attitude towards their own skills in this area and also the majority of this part deals with client´s awareness and their experience. In order to elaborate this thesis a combination of quantity quality examination has been chosen. To realize a quantity research we selected a survey based technique and for the quality one we used a semi-structured conversation system with open questions. There was a survey assorted for a quantity research which was destined for the general nurses working at the surgical and intern departments within Southern Bohemia region. The quality research was conducted by 9 interviews with clients with the ports implanted. There were four goals being focused on in the thesis. The first one was to chart the nurses´ awareness regarding the port problematics. From the results came clear that the nurses don´t have the corresponding knowledge. The second focus was to find out the own attitude of the nurses towards their skills regarding the port care. The results proved that the nurses assess their skills mostly like insufficient. The third focus was trying to estimate the clients´ awareness about ports and their appreciation of nursing care. By means of these clients´ interviews we found out that they are well informed about the problematics and their care appreciation with ports is excellent. The fourth focus was searching for particular clients´ needs regarding their ports and their saturation by the nursing staff. From the clients´ responses were we able to find out that they don´t have. H1 The general nurses working at the surgical departments treat the clients with ports more often than those from the intern departments. It also shows that both nurses from surgical and internal departments meet the clients with ports equally. The first hypothesis has not been proved. H2 The general nurses working at the surgical departments have more knowledge about nursing clients with ports than those from the intern departments. The analysis has shown that nurses from intern departments have more knowledge than those from the surgical ones. The second hypothesis has not been proved. H3 The general nurses working at the surgical departments assess their skills regarding the care of client with implanted port better than those from intern departments. Nurses from both departments assess their skills mostly as insufficient. The third hypothesis has not been proved. H4 General nurses are interested in increasing their knowledge about the port problematics. The nurses proved interest about increasing their knowledge, e. g. by attending a special course. The fourth hypothesis has not been proved.Survey questionnaire: VO1 Do the clients have enough information about the ports? VO2 Does the port obstruct your daily activities? VO3 How is the port being estimated by the clients? VO4 What pros and cons have the ports from their point of view? VO5 How do the clients assess the nursing care? VO6 What particular needs do the clients with ports have? VO7 Are these needs saturated by the nursing staff? The survey research proved that the clients are satisfied with the ports. The care of ports is assessed perfectly by clients and it attests that the provided medical care is superior. Despite all those positive outcomes it´s essential that the nurses from oncology but also from other departments are being further educated in the port problematics as the results of quantity research points to a lack of knowledge of nurses and the number of clients with ports is increasing.The thesis can be used as an information source for nurses and management. We recommend regular education seminars and creation of nursing standards.

The thesis focuses on care of clients with Alzheimer's, including the burden of family members and possible options of using services of a day care and a week care centre. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with Alzheimer's disease together with nursing care, health care system in the Czech Republic and possibility to use services of day care and week care centres. In the empirical part of the thesis the method of qualitative research was used. A non standardized interview was applied as a method of questioning. The results of the qualitative research clearly show that the care for clients with Alzheimer's dementia represents a major burden for family members who care for the ill and in connection with the care provided they have to tackle following problems. They have to cope with the gradual deterioration of memory of the ill, which is associated with occasional forgetfulness, disorientation, wandering around. Another problem is to handle in an acceptable way the change of behaviour of their loved ones who often attack them both verbally and physically. Family members help patients with feeding, emptying, hygiene and grooming. They must solve the difficulties with activation of patients including memory exercises, they watch whether the patients swallow the medication. The conclusions of the thesis show that family members have to deal with many above mentioned problems when providing care for their loved ones. They themselves are tired and exhausted due to the care they provide, which is related to the incidents of their own health problems. They neglect themselves and their families, it is difficult for them to coordinate the care with their job and often come to work sleepy. For these reasons they would like to use services of day care and week care centres. It eases them of the burden of care, which they see as a benefit. The research revealed the expected services of the day care centre including expected nursing care. The research results were presented to the management of the Aftercare Hospital in Humpolec as it had planned to open a day care centre for patients with Alzheimer's dementia. Furthermore, the results served as a basis for the seminar for potential applicants, who would like to work in the centre. Based on information obtained in the course of writing of the thesis, a draft of the brochure was created which would serve as information material for family members of clients with Alzheimer's including the patients themselves.

The thesis deals with the issue of nursing care in old people's homes. Given the improving medical and nursing care and also the prevention of diseases, the human life extends. This leads to the aging of population. Therefore, it is essential to understand this issue, its interconnection with nursing care, but also to find the right approach to the elderly in residential facilities providing social services. The theoretical part of the thesis deals with old age and aging, behavioural changes in old age, specifics of communication with the elderly, long-term care for the elderly, care for a man in nursing homes. It deals with the work of nurses in old people's homes and with their education. Five objectives were set within the framework of the research. The first objective was to determine areas of nursing care, in which the nurses working in old people's homes have most problems. The second objective was to find out how the nurses manage physical strain. The third objective was to determine how the nurses manage psychical strain. The fourth objective was to find out what theoretical knowledge and practical skills the nurse must have. The fifth objective was to identify possibilities of further training for nurses working in old people's homes. Qualitative research was applied in the empirical part of the thesis. The method of non - standardized interview was used. The research group consisted of 10 nurses who work in residential facilities for the elderly in old people's homes. To process the interviews, the open coding technique was applied - a paper-and-pencil method. To complement psychical resilience of nurses, S.O.C questionnaire by A. Antonovsky was used. There were 42 questionnaires used in the research. The interviews with the respondents showed that the work of a nurse in homes for the elderly is physically and mentally demanding. And it is obvious that nurses feel the mental strain as more damaging. The physical demands are connected with the state of the client and his diseases but also with the space limitations of homes and night shifts. The mental burden is caused by similar factors and also by the family of the client, specifics of the communication with the elderly, cooperation with the hospital, working atmosphere, responsibility and keeping records. Next important factor that negatively influences mental state of the nurses is a lack of prestige and recognition of their work. Even though the nurses feel both types of stress, most of them cope with it without problems and they try to restore their balance in their leisure time. The conclusions of the thesis also point to the high demands and wide range of expertise and skills required from the nurses when providing care. Even specialized procedures are carried out in homes. Nurses must know how to communicate, handle conflict situations, co-operate with colleagues from different fields. Great emphasis is placed on independence in evaluating the health state of the client while ensuring the nursing care. The nurse must have personal qualities for work with the elderly. Another important component of their work is their knowledge and practical skills in the field of social work theoretically backed by the Act 108/2006 Coll.

The thesis titled Biological Therapy in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases deals with the needs of clients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis prior and after biological therapy. The role of nurses in biological therapy centres, including the application of this therapy, was also investigated. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases. They are chronic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, which are accompanied by ample extraintestinal symptoms. This thesis also deals with biological therapy that involves the administration of highly effective substances of biological nature that inhibit specific sites of inflammatory reactions. This therapy is provided in centres of biological therapy and is used not only in gastroenterology but also in rheumatology and oncology. Teams of experts work in biological therapy centres; the task of these teams is to provide a comprehensive holistic health care. The thesis is divided into a theoretical part and an empirical part. The theoretical part focuses mainly on Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and biological therapy that helps patients suffering from these diseases. The methodological section employed qualitative research using in-depth semi-structured interviews with patients suffering from idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases and with nurses who deal with these patients when applying biological therapy. Since head nurses from gastroenterology departments did not wish to record the interviews with a recorder, they were recorded in writing and transcribed subsequently. The questions dealt with the issues of biological therapy in connection with inflammatory bowel diseases. All the acquired data was processed with the Atlas.ti programme, which is designed for encoding, processing and interpretation of large amounts of textual and graphic qualitative data. Based on the research, an educational brochure for patients suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases was complied as well as educational materials for nurses starting work in biological therapy centres. Furthermore, the results can be used by nurses in practice and nursing students too.

This thesis named: "Problems of usage of prosthetic aids for children" focuses on the nursing care specifics of the child patient after an amputation. The Amputation is defined as removal of the peripheral portion of the body with an interruption of a bone and the soft tissues which allows subsequent prosthetic solution. Prosthesis is externally applied aid, which replace missing or underdeveloped part of a limb eventually the whole limb. The aim of the Prosthetic centers is to offer to its clients the exact prosthetic solution which could fully replace the function of a missing limb and allow the child to live full life without any limitations. The intention of the thesis was to summarize the problematic of the upper and lower limbs amputation into one publication and also to focus this thesis on children and prosthetic aids for them. The reason is that in Czech literature there is no complex information which focuses on specifics for children. The list of synoptic distribution of the types of prosthetic aids was created based on the level of amputation. A large part of this thesis deals with the nursing care, including rehabilitation after amputation and prosthetic solutions. The possibility of the children´s active life with prosthetic aids was mentioned, also how they coped with the loss of a limb. And then the specifics of the nursing care and the attitude of the nursing staff to children and their parents were mentioned too. In the research part of the thesis three aims were set: Find out the limitations or the changes in the family´s life style which has child with prosthesis and the limitations in child´s active life with prosthesis. Ascertain the specifics and the lacks of the nursing care during preparation of children for the prosthetic aid. Based on these following aims the research questions were set: How was the life style of the family with child with prosthetic aid affected? What are the limitations in child´s active life with prosthesis? What are the specifics of the nursing care during preparation of the child for the prosthetic aid? The empirical part of my thesis was processed with qualitative data analysis using technique of the unstructured in-depth interviews. The first research group consisted of seven respondents. Five out of them were parents of the children without the limb and two out of them were children without the limb itself, who were old enough to give us the trustworthy information. The information from the prosthetic technicians was followed with these interviews. The prosthetic technicians clarified us the questions which resulted from reaching the respondents who cannot have all theoretical knowledge regarding the issue. We hope that the results from this thesis will be benefit not only for the medical staff to improve the quality of the nursing care, but also for the respondents who can find the information which was missing till this time.

A presente dissertação está inserida na linha de pesquisa Fundamentos Filosóficos, Teóricos e Tecnológicos do Cuidar em Saúde e Enfermagem da Faculdade de Enfermagem da UERJ, onde, tem-se como objeto do estudo: a dimensão espiritual do cuidado em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva. A questão norteadora é: considerando o exercício da integralidade como fator essencial para a prática do fazer enfermagem, como é ser enfermeira/o de unidades de terapia intensiva na prática do cuidado ao paciente abordando a religiosidade/espiritualidade? O objetivo é: Investigar o cuidado prestado pelos enfermeiros que trabalham em Unidades de Terapia Intensiva em relação à dimensão espiritual. Quanto à metodologia, trata-se de um estudo descritivo e exploratório, com abordagem qualitativa, de campo, respaldado na Resolução n 466, de 12 de dezembro de 2012 do Conselho Nacional de Saúde (CNS)/Ministério da Saúde (MS), aprovado pelo comitê de ética da UERJ (RJ-Brasil) através do Parecer N 253.923 em 18/04/2013. Os sujeitos do estudo foram 15 enfermeiros que trabalham em Unidade de Terapia Intensiva de instituições hospitalares públicas e privadas do Rio de Janeiro. A técnica para produção dos dados foi o Grupo Focal, realizado no mês de maio de 2013 na Faculdade de Enfermagem da UERJ. Para tratamento dos dados utilizou-se a análise de conteúdo delineado por Bardin. Emergiram três categorias: O espaço do cuidar em UTI; O significado de ser enfermeiro em UTI e A dimensão do cuidar em UTI. Procedeu-se uma segunda análise com categorias pré-estabelecidas apresentadas no Processo Clinical Caritas de Jean Watson. Conclui-se que os enfermeiros de UTI, imersos em um ambiente de tecnologia pesada, onde o foco maior do cuidado é a dimensão corporal, percebem as necessidades da dimensão espiritual dos pacientes, estimulam a esperança e a fé para aliviar o sofrimento causado pelo processo de adoecimento e da internação na UTI e revelam serem capaz de integrar-se a experiência do humano quando cuidam. / The present thesis was based under the Health Care and Nursing Philosophical, Theoretical and Technological Fundamentals from the Rio de Janeiro State University UERJ where its object of study is: the spiritual dimension of the Intensive Care Unit. The guiding issue is: considering the wholeness as an essential issue in the nursing practice, how is the intensive therapy nurse supposed to behave addressing religion/spiritual issues? The goal is: to investigate the care provided by the nurses who work at intensive care units regarding the spiritual dimension. As far as the methodology is concerned, it is a descriptive and exploratory study under the qualitative and field approaches complying with the National Health Council (CNS)/Health Ministry (MS), Act number 466 of December 12th 2012, approved by the UERJ Ethics Committee (RJ-Brazil) by means of the Act number 253 of April 18th 2013. The subjects of the study were 15 nurses who work at Intensive Care Units at public and private hospital institutions in Rio de Janeiro. The technique used to produce the data was the one by the Focal Group which took place in May 2013 at the UERJ Nursing School. Bardins content analysis method was used to deal with the data; the three categories that came out were: the ICU caring space, what means to be a nurse in ICUs and the care dimension in the ICUs. Then a second analysis took place with the pre-established categories presented by the Process Clinical Caritas by Jean Watson. It was concluded that the nurses who work at ICUs, where they are immersed in a heavily technological environment and where the main focus is on the body dimension, notice the patients spiritual needs, they can foster hope and faith so as to relief the suffering caused by the disease and intensive care hospitalization processes and reveal that they are capable of integrating the human experience as they care for their patients.

Este estudo tem como objeto o cuidado de Enfermagem e suas memórias e representações sociais para enfermeiros hospitalares inseridos nas unidades de referências para pessoas que viviam com o HIV/aids no Rio de Janeiro, no decorrer de 1980 a 1991. Os objetivos específicos foram: identificar a memória social do cuidado de enfermagem implementado pelos enfermeiros aos acometidos pelo HIV/aids no Município do Rio de Janeiro; descrever as práticas de cuidado pelos enfermeiros no contexto do recorte temporal adotado no estudo; descrever o processo de enfrentamento da epidemia da aids pelos enfermeiros, tanto no contexto do cuidado de enfermagem no espaço hospitalar, quanto nas relações sociais estabelecidas; analisar as memórias e representações sociais de enfermeiros acerca do cuidado de Enfermagem prestado às pessoas com HIV/aids em situação de hospitalização na primeira década da epidemia. Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, de campo, com abordagem qualitativa, baseada nos pressupostos teóricos da memória social propostos por Sá em sua interface com a teoria de representações sociais no campo da Psicologia Social. Realizada com 30 enfermeiros que atuaram em hospitais considerados de referência para o tratamento de clientes que viviam com HIV/aids. Os dados foram coletados por uma entrevista semiestruturada e a visualização de 12 fac-símiles escolhidos de forma aleatória na imprensa. A população de estudo é predominantemente do sexo feminino e com idade entre 51 a 60 anos. Os principais resultados apontam que a memória social do cuidado de enfermagem se constitui a partir de diferentes objetos representacionais (cuidado de enfermagem, aids e biossegurança), instâncias da memória social (pessoal, pública, prática, coletiva, comuns, histórica oral e histórica documental) e diversos elementos que constituem esta memória (ambiente de cuidado e relações sociais, familiares e laborais, dentre outras). Emergiram sete categorias de análise: O processo do cuidado de Enfermagem: do enfrentamento, da capacitação e do desenvolvimento; Sentimentos dos enfermeiros e dos clientes descritos pelos participantes no processo de cuidar; O processo de cuidado direto ao cliente no início da epidemia; Memórias da autoproteção profissional e da proteção ao cliente no contexto do HIV/aids; Os contextos do cuidado: ambiente, materiais e recursos humanos; Memórias dos enfermeiros sobre os clientes acometidos pelo HIV e Relacionamento interpessoal. Destaca-se que a memória do cuidado de enfermagem se mostra ligada à construção representacional da aids (não familiar/familiar), do cuidado de enfermagem (sem controle/sob controle) e à constituição de um grupo social com forte identidade, o dos enfermeiros da aids. Concluímos que o estudo mostrou o trabalho pioneiro dos enfermeiros com o HIV/aids no ambiente hospitalar. Esses profissionais tiveram que cuidar desses clientes em meio à possibilidade de contaminação, ao mesmo tempo em que desenvolviam um autocuidado, em alguns momentos exagerados devido ao desconhecimento sobre a síndrome, como forma de preservação da sua saúde, bem como de sua família. A memória social como conceito guarda-chuva mostrou-se pertinente para a análise dos dados, permitindo recuperar, ao menos em parte, a dinâmica do cuidado de enfermagem nos primeiros anos da síndrome. / The present study is concerned with the provision of care as well as with memories and social representations from nurses who worked in reference hospitals where HIV/aids patients were admitted to, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, from 1980 to 1991. It specifically aims to: Identify social memories related to nursing practices implemented by nurses and directed to HIV/aids patients in Rio de Janeiro; Describe nursing practices in the timespan aforementioned; Describe how nurses faced up to the epidemic in the professional context of the hospital where patients were being treated as well as regarding the social relationships that were established and, Analyse memories and social representations of care practitioners related to the nursing care provided to hospitalized HIV/aids patients in the decade following the onset of the epidemic. This descriptive field study has a qualitative approach based on the theoretical presuppositions of memory proposed by Sá in its interface with the theory of social representations from the field of Social Psychology. It has been conducted with the collaboration of 30 nurses who worked in facilities considered to be reference hospitals where HIV-infected patients were treated at the time. Data were collected by means of a semi-structured interview and from the subjects watching of 12 fac-símiles randomly chosen from the mass media. Subjects were predominantly females from 51 to 60 years of age. The main findings suggest that the social memory of nursing care is constructed from different representational objects (nursing care, aids and biosafety), instances of social memory (personal, public, practice, collective, common, verbal historical and documentational historical) as well as from several elements encompassed in that memory (care environment, family and work relationships, among others). Seven categories of analysis emerged: The process of nursing care: facing up to, capacitation and development; nurses and patients feelings described by care providers; the care provided directly to the patients in the beginning of the epidemic; memories of professional self-protection and protection to the patients; the contexts of the provision of care: environment, materials and human resources; Memories related to HIV patients, and interpersonal relationships. We highlight that the memories associated with the provision of care by nurses seem to be linked to the representational construction of aids (not-familiar/familiar), of the nursing care in itself (not in control/in control) and to the formation of a social group with a strong identity: the aids nurses group. We conclude that the study shows the pioneering aspect of the work performed by nurses who were in charge of HIV/aids patients in a hospital environment. These professionals provided care to HIV-infected patients while accounting for the possibility of contamination and developing auto-care practices (albeit sometimes exaggerated due to the lack of knowledge about the syndrome) as a means to protect their own health and the health of their families. Social memory as the umbrella concept of this study proves itself to be adequate to the data analysis, allowing to retrieve, at least partially, the dynamics of the nursing care in the first years of the syndrome.