Exploratory qualitative research with the aim to learn the nurses' understanding of vulnerability in child development. Participants were 39 nurses working at 39 health units in Curitiba, state of Paraná, Brazil. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews and analyzed by dialectical hermeneutics. Results showed that, according to the nurses, child vulnerability is influenced by weak family bonds, substance abuse and domestic violence. Study participants report the expression of individual processes that reflect postmodern society, and understand the society-family relationship as a deleterious situation for child development. The use of the concept of vulnerability in the professional lives of nurses and healthcare teams enables a critical analysis of their practice. The application of this concept in childcare allows to restructure the care model, thus overcoming the fragmented and biologicist concept of child development.
Health vulnerability; Child development; Family health; Nursing