Abuse perpetuated against children and adolescents is a reality that jeopardises their physical and mental health, compromising their quality of life and well-being both in the present and in the future, as it leaves serious and often irreversible consequences. The relevance of this topic is based on the difficulty felt and observed in the context of clinical nursing practice in identifying, notifying and referring situations of child/adolescent abuse, which makes it necessary to raise nurses' awareness of this reality.The practice and behaviour of professionals in dealing with child and adolescent victims of abuse are closely related to the still obscure visibility that the problem assumes in everyday life. Reflecting on the concepts of the different types of abuse and the ideas associated with them helps to understand how to deal with identifiable cases.