Children with vertical transmission HIV pass from childhood to adolescence and little is known about how they care for themselves. The objective was to understand the daily life of adolescents with AIDS. Heiddeger's hermeneutic analyzes was applied. The phenomenological interview of 11 non-institutionalized boys and girls (12-14 years) with a disclosed diagnosis took place in 3 reference healthcare facilities in Rio de Janeiro. The comprehensive analysis showed that adolescents' daily live is marked by childhood and adolescent moments. In childhood, there is a desire to play like other children. In adolescence, there is a desire to be like others in appearance, mood, daily activities, leisure and relationship. In passing between these two moments, a process of becoming adolescent is revealed. In this existential movement they reveal as a being-with-possibilities that are not limited in the double-facticity: adolescence (according to etaria marks and predetermined characteristics) and AIDS (clinical fragility). Therein resides the challenge of conjugating biological and existential dimensions in adolescent care.
Teen Health; Child Health; Pediatric Nursing; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome