Background:
People with tuberculosis experience rejection in many contexts. Recognizing the stigma in health professionals under your care can help reduce this negative situation.

Objective:
To determine the stigmatization level of the nursing staff towards the tuberculosis patient, in highly complex health institutions.

Method:
A descriptive study was performed for twelve months with a population and sample of 149 nursing professionals who work in highly complex health institutions in cartagena. A questionnaire was applied to measure sociodemographic characteristics and a scale to measure attitudes towards tuberculosis, which consists of 25 items and closed yes and no questions; the greater the number of positive responses, the higher the level of stigmatization. The collected information was tabulated and processed in the microsoft excel program. Descriptive statistics were applied to the data and the results were presented in tables and graphs.

Results:
Of the 149 participants, the majority are women (91.9% (137)), stratum 2 (47.7% (71)), single (45.0% (67)), and only with undergraduate studies (59.7% (89)). 63.1% (94) of nursing professionals think that people with tuberculosis experience greater economic difficulties than those who do not suffer from this disease, 65.1% (97) affirm that it is risky to eat or drink with a nursing friend with tuberculosis. Likewise, 8.1% (12) think that people sick with tuberculosis can spread the disease by shaking hands or hugging and 93.3% (139) believe that people feel uncomfortable being around someone who is sick with tuberculosis.

Conclusion:
Nursing professionals stigmatize tuberculosis patients in a high degree. Women, those who only have an undergraduate degree, those from lower strata and those who work in administrative areas have a higher level of stigmatization; all these may become a barrier to the provision of quality nursing care to the patient.