From the biomedical paradigm to intercultural dialogue: a qualitative study of pedagogical practices in nursing education in the Honduran Caribbean

Abstract

Introduction: Nursing education faces the challenge of moving beyond an exclusively biomedical understanding of the health–illness process and preparing professionals capable of providing culturally safe care. Objective: To interpret how oral history, illness narratives, the study of cultural syndromes, and community immersions reshape the classroom as an intercultural space within the Culture and Health Seminars at the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), Atlántida Campus. Method: An interpretive qualitative case study was conducted through secondary documentary analysis of a corpus comprising 22 meaning units extracted from pedagogical descriptions, testimonies, and records of experiences carried out between 2011 and 2019. The data were examined using reflexive thematic analysis with inductive–deductive coding, internal triangulation across different types of evidence, and the application of the criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. Results: Six themes emerged: pluralization of the health–illness process; oral history as an epistemological and relational bridge; immersive and inquiry-based learning; cultural humility and reflexivity; ethics of encounter, trust, and reciprocity; and transfer to holistic care and curricular transformation. These practices fostered recognition of local explanatory models, decentralization of biomedical authority, and development of intercultural competencies. However, they also revealed risks related to the romanticization of traditional knowledge, emotional involvement, and uncritical clinical validation. Conclusions: The experience demonstrates that the intercultural classroom is constructed through sustained engagement with communities, guided critical reflection, and dialogue among different knowledge systems.