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Objective: to identify the coping strategies of oncology services of nurses in highly complex hospital care before the person with cancer., Method: it is a qualitative research, with 18 nurses in inpatient oncology units and/or outpatient chemotherapy in two cities in southern Brazil, sampled by a snowball and carrying out semi-structured interviews. Data were submitted to thematic analysis., Results: three categories emerged that show strategies such as denial and resignation in care, for support in the health team and the plurality and multiplicity of perspectives on the care, including the patient and his family and the search for personal and professional improvement., Conclusion: coping strategies are expressed in the cultural understanding of what it means to have cancer or not and management of health institutions for nurses to work with satisfaction. The service in education is a major factor in the development of ethical competence.