Anjye Carolina Cicua Castañeda1, Isabel Wilchez Vargas2, Carlos Arturo Pineda Barrera3
Recibido para publicación: 30-10-2025. Versión corregida: 24-02-2026. Aprobado para publicación: 10-03-2026.
Modelo de citación:
Cicua Castañeda A.C., Wilchez Vargas I.W., Pineda Barrera C.A. Promoting cross-cultural care in nursing students. Arch Med (Manizales). 2026;26(1). https://doi.org/10.30554/archmed.26.1.5529.2026
Care is a human activity characterised as a relationship and process whose goal goes beyond illness. In nursing, care is considered the essen- tial core of the field and encompasses not only the recipient but also the nurse who provides it (1).
Transcultural nursing is a fundamental discipline that addresses the cultural values, beliefs, and practices linked to care, which significantly influence the care that patients receive. This approach highlighted the lack of cultural preparation in the training of nursing professionals and emphasised the importance of providing care that respects and adapts to the cultural diversity of each individual. (2)
Leininger’s transcultural perspective offers a humanistic and compre- hensive approach to newborn care, considering and respecting the cultural values, beliefs, and practices of women and their families as an essential part of the care process. By recognising them as an essential part of our
Estudiante de enfermería, Fundación Universitaria de San Gil-Sede Yopal. San Gil, Yopal, Colombia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5265-2567. Correo electrónico: anjyecicua122@unisangil.edu.co.
Estudiante de enfermería, Fundación Universitaria de San Gil-Sede Yopal. San Gil, Yopal, Colombia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1632-4411. Correo electrónico: isabelwilches@unisangil.edu.co.
Enfermero Magister en Educación, Fundación Universitaria de San Gil-Sede Yopal. San Gil, Yopal, Colombia. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-9336-4477. Correo electrónico: cpineda2@unisangil.edu.co.
Cicua Castañeda A.C., Wilchez Vargas I.W., Pineda Barrera C.A. Promoting cross-cultural care in nursing students.
Arch Med (Manizales). 2026;26(1)
culture, the aim is not to compare different types of knowledge but to inte- grate them as a basis for guiding care. Thus, the construction of cultural knowledge is strengthened through the interaction between traditional practices and nursing knowledge (3).
According to Madeleine Leininger’s theory of cultural care, it is the ethical and professional duty of nurses to help mothers and their families recog- nise early warning signs, risk factors, and possible complications in both the mother and the newborn. In addition, they must learn how to care for themselves and their babies, avoiding cultural conflicts and incorporating their values, beliefs, and practices to detect and anticipate their state of health and well-being (4).
In light of the above, it is extremely important to mention the reflective study proposed by Pineda-Barrera, published in this journal in Vol. 25 No. 2 (2025), in which he sought to present a point of view from the perspec- tive of nursing professionals on newborn care, based on the transcultural theory of nursing proposed by Leininger (5).
For nurses in training, Leininger’s theory of transcultural care allows them to provide optimal care and humanised attention that respects fa- mily customs, without neglecting the safety and well-being of the child, according to each child’s needs. Thus, nursing professionals are required to acquire knowledge about the culture with which each family seeking health services identifies. Therefore, it is important to understand that care cannot be uniform, but rather must remember that nursing is not only ba- sed on scientific knowledge, but also on an understanding of the patient’s sociocultural context.
References
Báez-Hernández F.J., Nava-Navarro V., Ramos-Cedeño L., Medina-López O.M. El significado de cuidado en la práctica profesional de enfermería. Aquichan. 2009 Aug; 9( 2 ): 127-134.
Disponible en: http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/aqui/v9n2/v9n2a02.pdf
Logan R. Madeleine L. Culture Care Theory [Internet]. Studying Nurse. 2025 [citado el 30 de octubre de 2025]. Disponible en: https://studyingnurse.com/nursing-theory/madeleine-leininger-culture-care-theory/
Reina R., Ferrer R.X., Toro Y., Cárdenas M.H. Abordaje del cuidado neonatal: un enfoque transcultural. Enferm. glob. 2010; (20). Disponible en: https://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1695-61412010000300019
Bohórquez G.O.A., Rosas Santana A., Pérez L.J., Munévar, R.Y. Seguimiento de enfermería a la madre y al recién nacido durante el puerperio: traspasando las barreras hospitalarias. Av enferm. 2009; 27( 2 ): 139-149. Disponible en: http://www.scielo.org.co/pdf/aven/v27n2/v27n2a14.pdf
Pineda Barrera C.A. El cuidado transcultural del recién nacido desde la óptica de Madeleine Leinin-ger. Arch Med (Manizales). 2025;25(2). https://doi.org/10.30554/archmed.25.2.5353.2025
