Experiences of newly diagnosed HIV and AIDS patients at Mankweng tertiary hospital campus in Limpopo Province, South Africa

The purpose of this study was to determine the experiences of the newly diagnosed HIV patients at a tertiary hospital campus in Limpopo Province. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research method was used in this study, which focused on describing the experiences of newly diagnosed HIV and AIDS patients where the participants were given an opportunity to do so until data saturation was reached. The population consisted of all the newly diagnosed HIV and AIDS patients in Mankweng hospital. A purposive sampling technique was used to select participants during unstructured interview sessions. Data were analysed using Tesch’s open coding method of qualitative analysis. The following themes emerged from the data analysis: lack of acceptance, lack of health care services and support, lack of financial support, lack of confidentiality and stigmatisation. The study concluded that HIV and AIDS patients in the tertiary hospital campus experienced rejection from the community members and they are marginalized, and became devastated as they could not access any health care servicesKeywords: HIV and AIDS patients, experiences, newly diagnosed