Introduction: informed consent (IC) is based on the bioethical principle of respect for autonomy. Its usefulness in acts of care often is more related to administrative and even legal aspects and overpowers the ethical vision in which the nurse-patient relationship is based. It is inherent to care practices and poses a challenge to the ethical and humanistic development of the discipline. Objective: To identify the knowledge and
importance nursing students have about the IC applied to the acts of nursing care, by applying the theory of nursing's fundamental patterns of knowing. Methodology: A descriptive, cross quantitative study with a sample of 184 students and self-designed instrument; Likert-type scale with 40 items distributed on the variables: knowledge and importance of IC. The validation of the instrument was carried out through a content
validation by expert judgment, evaluation of metric properties using Cronbach's alpha (coefficient of 0.838) and pilot test with 21 students. For the data analysis we used the SPSS software (Ver. 22.0.0) and the information was presented in scatterplot matrix diagrams; history of clustering and dendrograms, using cluster analysis type. Results: There were no differences in values between men and women. The developed
cluster typologies produced four taxonomical categories in the IC conceptualization. Conclusion: With the support of the theory of nursing's fundamental patterns of knowing, the most favored patterns and the ones that are poorly developed were determined. Little importance is given to the written document, and more relevance
is given to the process of providing information in performing acts of care.