OBJECTIVES: to analyse the knowledge, beliefs and perception of the professional role that nursing students have, about exerted violence against women in relationships. METHOD: a descriptive qualitative study following the ecological model through 16 focus groups realized with 112 students from four nursing courses of four Spanish universities. RESULTS: the analytical categories were: knowledge, professional role, and beliefs about ones behaviour before the victim and the abuser. Students are unfamiliar with the characteristics of abuse, guidelines, protocols and screening questions and demand patterns for specific intervention. They do not identify their own professional role, be it delegated or specialized. Beliefs regarding their behaviour with the victim, not guided by professional criteria, perceive violence as a specific situation and disassociate the prevention of health care. They perceive the abuser as mentally ill, justifying the tolerance or delegation of performances. CONCLUSIONS: students define preconceived ideas about couples' violence. Speeches reproduce and reinforce stereotypical myths, values indicative of inadequate training for nursing studies which raises the need to fortify the competencies in relation to intimate couples' violence in the curriculum.

Critical thinking is a complex, dynamic process formed by attitudes and strategic skills, with the aim of achieving a specific goal or objective. The attitudes, including the critical thinking attitudes, constitute an important part of the idea of good care, of the good professional. It could be said that they become a virtue of the nursing profession. In this context, the ethics of virtue is a theoretical framework that becomes essential for analyse the critical thinking concept in nursing care and nursing science. Because the ethics of virtue consider how cultivating virtues are necessary to understand and justify the decisions and guide the actions. Based on selective analysis of the descriptive and empirical literature that addresses conceptual review of critical thinking, we conducted an analysis of this topic in the settings of clinical practice, training and research from the virtue ethical framework. Following JBI critical appraisal checklist for text and opinion papers, we argue the need for critical thinking as an essential element for true excellence in care and that it should be encouraged among professionals. The importance of developing critical thinking skills in education is well substantiated; however, greater efforts are required to implement educational strategies directed at developing critical thinking in students and professionals undergoing training, along with measures that demonstrate their success. Lastly, we show that critical thinking constitutes a fundamental component in the research process, and can improve research competencies in nursing. We conclude that future research and actions must go further in the search for new evidence and open new horizons, to ensure a positive effect on clinical practice, patient health, student education and the growth of nursing science.

Purpose The recognition of the Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) as the official language of the Brazilian deaf, in 2002, reaffirms the linguistic and cultural particularities of the deaf population. Therefore, there is a lack of a validated instrument for assessing the Quality of Life of deaf people using Libras. With authorization from the World Health Organization (WHO), a version of the WHOQOL-Bref in Libras was developed, called WHOQOL-Bref/Libras. However, its psychometric properties have not been examined as yet. Therefore, the purpose of this work is to perform the psychometric validation of the WHOQOL-Bref/Libras. Methods WHOQOL-Bref/Libras and a sociodemographic questionnaire were applied to 311 deaf people from the five Brazilian regions. To assess temporal stability, the questionnaire was readministered to 52 deaf people, over an interval of 2 weeks. Results WHOQOL-Bref/Libras demonstrated satisfactory psychometric values for reliability, discriminant and construct validity, temporal stability, and internal consistency. Cronbach's alpha coefficient showed satisfactory values for each of the WHOQOL-Bref domains: Physical health (0.641), Psychological (0.705), Environment (0.710), and Overall-Bref domains (0.873). The WHOQOL-Bref/Libras is the appropriate option to assess the quality of life of deaf people who communicate through Libras. Conclusion WHOQOL-Bref/Libras had a satisfactory psychometric performance; therefore, it is a valid option that will provide autonomous participation for the deaf in quality of life investigations.

Aims (1) To learn how male nurses view and manage their relationships with families of hospitalized children, in contrast to how they view those established by female nurses. (2) To know if male nurses' relationships with families of hospitalized children are influenced by gender roles and stereotypes. Background Relationships are essential in care. Prevailing gender stereotypes suggest that males have more difficulties with relationships than with technical aspects of nursing. Method Descriptive qualitative research in a public tertiary hospital September–December 2015. Participants were male nurses who worked in maternal and child health. Purposive sampling, based on criteria of homogeneity‐regularity and heterogeneity‐diversity. Semi‐structured interviews and content analysis. Findings Twelve male nurses participated. Two key themes emerged. (1) Establishment of professional–family relationship. Male nurses denied that male and female nurses established relationships with families differently, attributing any differences to personality rather than gender. (2) Management of relationships. Male nurses claimed that they set more limits on their relationships with families than female nurses. Discussion Male nurses both disrupted and reproduced gendered stereotypes about relationships with families, revealing new models of masculinity. Conclusion Male nurses reject the stereotype that nursing is a women's profession, but they interpret their relationships with families in terms of gender roles and stereotypes. Implications for nursing and nursing policy These findings contribute to understandings of the influence of gender stereotypes in nursing. They support the work of professional associations and labour unions in Spain and other countries to combat gender stereotypes and gender differences in nursing.