Introduction. The most common female genital cancer was cervical cancer. The easiest detective method is gynecological screening with cervical smear test. Aim of the Study. Objective of this study was to check the knowledge of the nursing students about the prevention of the cervical cancer. Material and method. Study took place in April 2009. It involved 100 nursing students in the age group of 19–24, all from Medical University of Warsaw. Customized questionnaire of 16 closed questions was used as a research tool. Results and description. Nursing students know the meaning of the HPV abbreviation (80%). More than half of them (59%) know that the virus is transmitted by sexual intercourse and the large number of sexual partners increases the risk of transmission (93%). 63% of students had knowledge about the cervical smear test and only 44% knew about colposcopy. Conclusions. Knowledge about the prevention of cervical cancer is insufficient especially amongst firs year nursing students at the Medical University of Warsaw. Knowledge about the prevention of the cervical cancer should be popularized.

Key words: cervical cancer, prophylaxis, knowledge.