Background:

the attitudes, knowledge, and cultural competence of nursing students towards the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community have repercussions on the access and quality of healthcare of these sexual minorities. Research shows that, despite the increase in information, nursing students have significant deficits in this area.

Objective:

to know the variables related to the state of knowledge, attitudes and cultural competence of Portuguese nursing students in relation to the LGBT community.

Methodology:

descriptive-correlational study, with convenience sample from a Higher Education Institution in the north region of Portugal. Collection data was developed through an online questionnaire, composed of social- demographic, knowledge verification questions and the Questionário Multidimensional do Preconceito Polimorfo (Lopes, Oliveira, Nogueira, & Grave, 2016).

Results:

the study included a sample of 99 nursing undergraduate students. Risk variables for discriminatory attitude were found, such as age and academic year, heterosexual orientation, residence in rural areas, centre politics and lack of familiarity with LGBT people, as well as association with low knowledge.

Conclusion:

we can conclude that nursing students demonstrate the need for reinforcement of knowledge, to better adapt attitudes and skills to deal with the LGBT community.