NURSES' ROLE IN PREVENTING CERVICAL CANCER: RAISING WOMEN'S AWARENESS

Abstract

The role of nurses is essential in the prevention of cervical cancer, and their presence in primary care and health campaigns is a determining factor in promoting preventive actions and early diagnosis. As educators and advisors, nurses explain the importance of the Pap smear, which identifies cellular changes in the cervix and enables early interventions. They inform women about risk factors, such as HPV infection, and promote self-care and prevention practices. In this context, this paper is a literature review, with a selection of articles from the main databases, Scielo, Google Scholar and Pubmed, and 5 articles were selected for the results and discussion. As a result, we found that nurses are essential for raising awareness and sensitizing women, especially in contexts where taboos and misinformation about preventive exams still prevail. Thus, their work contributes to reducing the incidence and mortality from cervical cancer, consolidating comprehensive care for women's health and strengthening prevention as a public health practice.