This study reports the experience of a care practice. Its objective was to apply the principles of the humanist theory of Paterson and Zderad for care for HIV-positive families who live with an HIV-positive child. The selection and outlining of the subjects took place in Hospital Dia (Every Day Hospital), while the nursing consultancies took place in an Unidade Local de Saúde (Local Health Care Clinic), both in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Nine nursing consultancies occurred; three with each respective family, and one can affirm that the application of the principles of the theory of Paterson and Zderad provided confirmation that the family improves their well-being given the presence of interaction and of dialogue. It is in these moments of interaction, from nursing consultancies, that we detect the strategies developed by the nursing themselves such as: family support, religion, medication, food, leisure, physical contact, and others.
Family; Child; HIV; Nursing