NURSING CARE IN THE PREVENTION OF CERVICAL CANCER

Abstract

The objective of this research was to identify studies that address nursing care in the prevention of cervical cancer. This is a descriptive and exploratory narrative review of the literature, carried out in the Virtual Health Library (VHL). The keywords “cervical cancer”, “prevention”, “women's health” and “nursing care” were used, combined with the Boolean operator AND. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 13 articles were selected for analysis. The results indicate that nursing plays an essential role in preventing the disease, especially in Primary Health Care, through educational actions, performing the Pap smear test and encouraging vaccination against HPV. However, challenges such as misinformation, barriers to access to health services and the need for continuous training of professionals still limit the effectiveness of preventive actions. It is concluded that strengthening public policies and investing in the qualification of the nursing team are essential to increase access to preventive measures. Furthermore, new studies are needed to evaluate innovative strategies and improve health care, contributing to the reduction of morbidity and mortality from cervical cancer.