Background: Ethical issues associated with Human Immunodeficiency Virus/AcquiredrnImmunodeficiency Syndrome are challenging and complex because of beliefs about disease,rnstigma surrounding the epidemic, lack of knowledge and fear of human immunodeficiencyrnvirus/Acquiredrnimmunodeficiency syndrome.rnPillars of ethical principles; autonomy,rnbeneficence, non maleficence and justice guide the delivery of health care. No nursing students inrnthe United States and 11.5 % of South Africa held beliefs that were fully supportive of the ethicalrnstandardsrnofrnpracticerninrntherncontextrnofrnhumanrnimmunodeficiencyrnvirus/Acquiredrnimmunodeficiency syndrome.rnObjective: To assess the ethical beliefs of nursing students towards HIV/ AIDS patients inrnAddis Ababa, Ethiopia from October 2010 to April 2011.rnMethods and materials: An institution based cross sectional study design was used fromrnOctober 2010 to April 2011. Samples of 210 of nursing students were recruited by proportionaternsystematic random sampling technique. Questions were pretested and collected by selfrnadministration method. The collected data was controlled and cleaned properly for consistency andrnentered into Epi info version 3.5.1 software and transferred to SPSS version 15.0 for analysis.rnResults were presented using frequency table and appropriate graphs. Finally, binary andrnmultinomial logistic regression was used to predict the outcome variables and control thernconfounding factors.rnResults: 11.9% of respondents were fully supportive, 22.9% were partially supportive and 65.2%rnwere non supportive of the ethical standards of nursing practice towards humanrnimmunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patient. There was significantrnassociation between history of care at non-clinical setting (Crude odds ratio=2.07) and havingrnfamily died of AIDS, and support on ethical standards.rnConclusions: A staggering proportion of nursing students in Addis Ababa University had beliefsrnabout human immunodeficiency virus/Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patientâ€˜s care thatrndo not reflect the inherent ethical standards of nursing practice. History of giving care forrnHIV/AIDS at non-clinical setting, respondents from rural area, having history family died ofrnHIV/AIDS, and who didnâ€˜t belief admission of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome patients tornseparate room affects the support of ethical standardsrnRecommendation: Mentoring experiences about complex ethical issues related to HIV/AIDSrnpatient care should be given by clinical instructors; so that they can be committed to the ethicalrnstandard beliefs related to HIV/AIDS patient care.rnKey words: ethical beliefs, HIV/AIDS, nursing students