Nursing perceptions of collaboration with indigenous healers in Swaziland

Abstract

Ethnography implemented through interviews and participant observation was utilized to answer the question: “How do nurses from various health care settings (government, private, mission, industrial and non-governmental organizations) perceive collaboration between indigenous and cosmopolitan health care systems?”. Fieldwork took place over a period of 12 months, and 65 nurses were formally interviewed. Religious affiliation and clinical setting may affect perceptions of collaboration. Nurses in mission and private rural practice perceive collaboration positively. Government nurses in rural settings indicate a need for national health policy to structure collaboration efforts, while government nurses in urban settings were ambivalent or expressed negative perceptions. Regardless of perceptions, all modes of collaboration expressed by nurses served to further the goals of cosmopolitan health care. Utilizing rural health motivators as culture brokers was suggested to enhance collaboration between indigenous and cosmopolitan health care systems.