Understanding to humanise: Teaching nurses' experience with caring for Mapuche patients

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Transcultural Nursing
• Indigenous Health

Background:

• The Mapuche people in southern Chile face healthcare and education inequalities.
• Poverty and cultural factors contribute to these disparities.
• Primary care settings are crucial for addressing these issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore nurse educators' experiences caring for Mapuche patients in Chilean primary care.
• To understand the challenges and strategies employed in culturally sensitive nursing education.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive qualitative study design was utilized.
• Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine female nurse educators.
• Data analysis involved triangulation through researcher consensus.

Main Results:

• Two key themes emerged: Cultural Sensitivity and Humanisation of Care.
• Nurse educators demonstrated respect for Mapuche health beliefs, adapting interventions.
• Efforts were made to integrate Mapuche spiritual and cultural needs into the biomedical model.

Conclusions:

• Culturally competent professionals are essential for training nurses in a diverse world.
• Training in humanized care and cross-cultural nursing is necessary.
• Enhanced cultural competence can improve patient health outcomes and reduce treatment failures.