Purpose: This study was designed to describe the burnout experiences of nurses counseling people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in hospital-based counseling services in Korea. Methods: A qualitative research technique with focus group interviews was used and the data were collected in 2012. Participants were 13 counseling nurses from 16 medical hospitals in South Korea who had worked full-time for more than six months as a counseling nurse for PLWHA. The 13 nurses made up 68.4% of all 19 official HIV counseling nurses in South Korea. Data were collected using focus group interviews and analyzed with the content analysis methodology of Downe-Wamboldt. Results: Burnout experience of counseling nurses for PLWHA was analyzed for two domains-causes of, and effects of burnout. Each domain was classified into three categories; personal, job-related, and relationships. Further 17 sub-categories and 47 concepts were discovered. Conclusion: In this study various causes and effects of burnout experienced by nurses counseling PLWHA were identified. These findings can be used in developing effective strategies for nurses, administrators, and health policy makers to solve the burnout of counseling nurses. Further research is required to develop detailed and practical job description for nurses counseling PLWHA.