The caregiving literature has focused on European-American caregivers who are providing care to spouses or parents with Alzheimer's disease. The article reports ethnographic research exploring aspects of caregiving by rural African-American mothers for adult children with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Eight African-American mothers were interviewed to elicit cultural domains of caregiving. Two major domains were a personal relationship with God and God's will. Taken together, these domains framed the context in which African-American mothers understood HIV disease, provided care, and resolved the death of their adult child.

This research study defines critical thinking in nursing and examines the thinking processes revealed by 15 African American mothers who are caregivers to adult children with HIV. The purpose of this cultural analysis was to compare the mothers' decision-making processes with their critical-thinking processes. Their culture, heritage, faith, and value of family influenced caregivers in this study. Their testimony revealed the patterns of creating a different path of care, weaving together resources, choosing among negative alternatives, and selecting stories to tell. Mothers' decisions were based on complex and holistic knowledge of their situations and culture and could be termed multilogical, a type of thinking considered necessary for managing complex situations. Health providers can benefit from an understanding of these decision-making processes.