The teaching of sociology in undergraduate nursing courses: discussing curricular possibilities

Abstract

The teaching of sociology in non-specific areas of social sciences is seldom covered on academic production; therefore, the justification of its inclusion in other fields’ curricula does not happen without pedagogical difficulties. In this respect, this essay discusses some options for the teaching of sociology in undergraduate nursing courses. It ponders about the adoption of the sociology teaching as a formative tool for future healthcare practioners, as well as draws attention to the multidisciplinarity of this course that may work as a door-opener for sociology in the health-disease process which is extremely sensitive to social and cultural factors. To do so, bibliographic references in the field of health sociology are used as a support and the text was divided in axes: firstly, there is a brief history of the teaching of sociology and the persistent separation between teaching and research; secondly, there is the conduction of an overview of the field of health sociology; after that, the importance of the interdisciplinarity is highlighted; and finally, there is an outline of the possible subjects and authors to be used in the teaching of sociology.