Homophobia is defined as a general negative attitude towards homosexual persons, with implications on public health. This fact has been less investigated among nursing students. The objective of this review was to learn about the prevalence of homophobia and its associated variables among nursing students. A systematic review was performed on original articles published in EBSCO, Imbiomed, LILACS, MEDLINE, Ovid, and ProQuest, including articles published between 1998 and 2008 in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Key words used were homophobia, homosexuality, and nursing students. Descriptive analysis was performed. Eight studies were analyzed. The incidence of homophobia in nursing students is between 7% and 16%. Homophobia is more common among males and religious conservatism people. Homophobia is quite frequent in nursing students. This negative attitude toward homosexuality may affect services and care giving by nursing professions and could have negative implications in nursing practice.
Sexuality; Attitude; Students, nursing