Objectives: to identify the relationships between nursing diagnoses for people living with HIV from the NANDA-International terminologies and International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP®) and to validate the equivalent meanings for diagnoses between language systems. Method: cross-sectional study, conducted in a reference hospital in northeastern Brazil, consisting of the following stages: 1) Identification of clinical findings through interviews and physical examinations with people living with HIV based on a validated script; 2) Structuring nursing diagnoses by means of Risner's clinical judgment; 3) Cross-mapping of nursing diagnosis statements with NANDA-I and ICNP® ; 4) Two rounds of Content validation using the Delphi technique with specialist nurses, for diagnoses with equivalent meanings between the systems. Data collection took place from August to November 2018. Results: in the preparation and identification of diagnoses, 135 nursing diagnoses were obtained, of which 62% (n=84) are included in the terminology of the ICNP® and 38% (n=51), from NANDA-International. For 81% (n=68) of the nursing diagnoses from the ICNP®, the absence of direct mapping in NANDA-international was identified, with 19% (n=16). The study showed that 47 diagnoses presented equivalent meanings. Conclusion: both systems enable the identification of nursing diagnoses accurately and have the ability to assist in the development of an individualized care plan for people living with HIV.