Background: Culturally and morally sensitive care is associated with higher-quality care. Method: This descriptive cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the levels of cultural and moral sensitivity among nursing students from diverse national backgrounds. The study was conducted at a foundation university in Turkey with second-year students (n = 125) during the 2023-2024 Academic Year. The Participant Information Form, Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS), and Modified Moral Sensitivity Questionnaire for Student Nurses (MMSQSN) were used for the data collection. Results: Participants comprised 80.8% female participants and 41.6% international students. Total ISS and MMSQSN scores were 3.37 ± 0.46 out of 5 and 5.37 ± 0.75 out of 7, respectively. A positive and statistically significant moderate correlation (r = 0.46, p < 0.001) was found between both instruments. Conclusion: Results demonstrate that nursing students exhibit a good level of cultural and moral sensitivity. Correlation between ISS and MMSQSN is interrelated in both areas.
Philosophy is called upon to provide the Medical Humanities with the conceptual framework that allows us to conceive of care as a relationship, highlighting categories such as personhood, vulnerability, the common good, and justice, and bringing to light the anthropological assumptions implicit in clinical practice. In this proposal, philosophy does not play a decorative role, but rather takes on the task of identifying and articulating the questions of meaning that permeate practice, safeguarding the question of the good and guiding discernment in complex decisions. Precisely for this reason, philosophy is placed at the center of a structural interdisciplinary dialogue with constructivist psychology and the other humanities, offering the shared lexicon within which narrative practices, the arts, and the social sciences can work together on the same experience of care, without being reduced to mere optional additions to biomedical curricula.
This article examines the historical and cultural stigma surrounding skin diseases, highlighting how literary, artistic, and social representations have shaped negative perceptions of dermatological conditions. It further explores how the integration of Medical Humanities – particularly visual arts – into medical education can enhance empathy, observational skills, and understanding of patients’ lived experiences. This article does not present primary empirical data but constitutes a narrative and interdisciplinary review aimed at exploring how art and literature have shaped the cultural perception of skin diseases. An interdisciplinary Medical Humanities approach was adopted, combining historical analysis, literary interpretation, and visual arts examination. Special attention was given to portrait and to contemporary sculptural works, such as Tamsin Van Essen’s Medical Heirlooms, to investigate how artistic representations contribute to reframing dermatological stigma. Findings show that skin diseases have historically been linked to moral judgment, impurity, and social deviance, with literature often reinforcing these prejudices by using dermatological signs as metaphors of vice or punishment. Conversely, visual art has frequently humanized individuals with skin conditions, restoring dignity and fostering empathy through realistic and symbolic portrayals. Contemporary art further challenges aesthetic norms by transfor ming imperfection into a site of recognition and emotional engagement. These artistic perspectives demonstrate the potential of art-based training to strengthen clinical observation and cultural sensitivity in dermatology. Visual arts and broader Medical Humanities offer a valuable framework for understanding skin diseases beyond their biological dimension.
