The purpose of this experimental study was to identify key factors influencing the intention of nurses (n = 102) to provide care at home to AIDS or leukaemia patients, homosexual or heterosexual. Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour with the addition of personal normative belief borrowed from Triandis's theory defined the theoretical framework. Homophobia and social desirability were also assessed as control variables. All nurses completed a self-administered and anonymous questionnaire after reading one of the four randomly-assigned vignettes that described the context of care. Sexual orientation of the patient influenced the personal normative belief (p < 0.05), and type of disease affected significantly perceived subjective social norm (p < 0.05). The regression of intention on all variables yielded an adjusted R2 of 0.48 (p < 0.0001), with perceived behavioural control, personal normative belief, attitude and homophobia being the significant predictors. In conclusion, nurses need to be better informed, better prepared and have better skills in order to provide appropriate care to homosexual AIDS patients.