Ethical issues associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome are challenging and complex because of beliefs about disease, stigma surrounding the epidemic, lack of knowledge and fear of human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Pillars of ethical principles; autonomy, beneficence, non maleficence and justice guide the delivery of health care. No nursing students in the United States and 11.5 % of South Africa held beliefs that were fully

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... upportive of the ethical standards of practice in the context of human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. Objective: To assess the ethical beliefs of nursing students towards HIV/ AIDS patients in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from October 2010 to April 2011. Methods and materials: An institution based cross sectional study design was used from October 2010 to April 2011. Samples of 210 of nursing students were recruited by proportionate systematic random sampling technique. Questions were pretested and collected by self administration method. The collected data was controlled and cleaned properly for consistency and entered into Epi info version 3.5.1 software and transferred to SPSS version 15.0 for analysis. Results were presented using frequency table and appropriate graphs. Finally, binary and multinomial logistic regression was used to predict the outcome variables and control the confounding factors. Results: 11.9% of respondents were fully supportive, 22.9% were partially supportive and 65.2% were non supportive of the ethical standards of nursing practice towards human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patient. There was significant association between history of care at non-clinical setting (Crude odds ratio=2.07) and having family died of AIDS, and support on ethical standards. Conclusions: A staggering proportion of nursing students in Addis Ababa University had beliefs about human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patient's care that d [...]