Objective:

The present study proposed an analysis of nursing care of victims of gender violence.

Methods:

An interview was carried out with 10 nurses from a hospital in the San Juan Province of Argentina.

Results:

In addition to health care for physical ailments, all of the interviewees recognized the need for support through establishing bonds of trust, empathy and respect. That bond allows patients to verbalize the violence and recognize the case as such. The main obstacles to achieving this are limited time for the consultation, especially if hospitalization is not required, and a lack of training and experience necessary to identify these cases.

Conclusions:

Nursing staff plays a key role in the hospital institution being able to detect situations of gender violence, since they have the best chance of establishing a therapeutic bond that allows the patient to verbalize the situation of abuse.