Objective: to reflect on the importance of the interpersonal relationship between nurse-patient in the perspective of current violence. Methods: this is a descriptive-reflective study. The databases used were: Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature, National Library of Medicine, SCOPUS, Web Of Science and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, in the languages: English, Spanish and Portuguese, of the last ten years. Results: three categories emerged: 1) Violence suffered by nursing professionals in the workplace; 2) Education as a tool to minimize workplace violence and 3) Nursing care for vulnerable people exposed to violence. Conclusion: interpersonal relationships can prevent acts of violence from being carried out in the workplace, and the institution itself and the management sectors can train the entire team, using continuing education as an effective tool for this issue.