Cultural competences in Nursing education: the context of the amazon region

Abstract

The objective was to analyze the development of cultural competencies among nursing students from public universities in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. This is an descriptive study with a qualitative approach, conducted with final-year undergraduate nursing students from two public universities. Data were collected through an online questionnaire via Google Forms and analyzed using Bardin’s content analysis technique. From the participants’ discourse, two categories emerged. The first category was interculturality and nursing education, with an emphasis on the Indigenous population. Other groups were also addressed, such as the Black and Quilombola populations, while the riverside communities and homeless populations were mentioned as having less space for dialogue and discussion. The second category refers to Cultural Competencies: the ability to deal with and care for culturally diverse populations, establishing an understanding of the concept of cultural competence from the students’ perspective. We concluded the development of cultural competence is a complex and gradual process that requires ongoing interventions throughout academic training. It must be approached transversally, involving the entire academic community.