Nursing is the profession that deals with caring, helping the multidisciplinary team in the process of health care and reestablishment; however, it is not always possible to achieve a cure, especially when it comes to neoplasms. Thus, the objective was to identify the knowledge of nurses in a hospital environment about palliative care for cancer patients. This is a descriptive, exploratory study with a qualitative approach. Data were collected through recorded interviews and guided by guiding questions. Afterwards, the statements were fully transcribed, guaranteeing the fidelity of the data, thus being meditated, categorized and analyzed by Bardin's analysis method. After numerous readings, three categories emerged, namely: nurses' understanding of palliative care;