[Student experience in providing care to a patient with epidermodysplasia verruciformis]

Report of an experience of nursing students in providing care to a patient with epidermodysplasia verruciformis, during the internship in the discipline Nursing in Transmittable Diseases, at the dermatology ward of a teaching hospital, located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2009. This is a rare genodermatosis, susceptible to infection with different types of human papilloma viruses, that cause exacerbated physical changes that impact the psyche of the affected individual. Care delivery was based on the assistance complexity indicated by the application of the Patient Classification System proposed by Perroca. The experience allowed students to learn how to cope with a patient affected by a rare and complex disease, of difficult resolution, and to provide integral care to this individual, perceiving him beyond the lesions. One conclude that the experience has greatly contributed to the growth of the students as future professionals.