Primary care nurses' approach to cases of violence against children

In Primary Care, the field of nursing comes face-to-face with the complexity of violence, leading these professionals to constantly re-evaluate their habitus. Objective: to analyze how cases of violence against children and adolescents are approached by primary care nurses, identifying limits and possibilities for dealing with these cases. Method: a qualitative study, undertaken in 2011, through semi-structured interviews with 8 out of 48 nurses in the Family Health teams in the city of Uberaba in the state of Minas Gerais, the analysis of which followed the interpretation of meanings, based in dialectical hermeneutics. Results: the following stand out: non-identification of violence as a problem for the nurses; denunciations and notifications as a role of the nurses; and the limits found in the face of violence. Conclusion: it is determined that the habitus of nursing directed at health promotion and prevention of violence must be restructured, overcoming the biomedical paradigm and involving intersectorial and multidisciplinary actions.