Social representations about their own vulnerability developed by nurses caring for people living with HIV/Representacoes sociais elaboradas por enfermeiros que cuidam de pessoas com HIV acerca de sua vulnerabilidade/Representaciones sociales elaboradas por enfermeros que cuidan de personas con HIV acerca de su vulnerabilidad

The phenomenon of vulnerability permeates nurses' personal and professional daily life. This study analyzed social representations about their own vulnerability among nurses caring for patients with Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Social Representations Theory provided the methodological framework guiding this qualitative, descriptive, exploratory study. Thirty nurses from a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, participated through semi-structured interviews. Thematic content analysis using QSR NVivo 9 software yielded, seven categories in all, with both vulnerability and empowerment emerging. It is concluded that, in its bases and outcomes, socio-cognitive reconstruction of vulnerability and empowerment is varied and changeable and, in movements that upset and restore balance, it embodies the vulnerability-empowerment dyad.