Comprehensive care for individuals has been a constant topic of discussion in nursing studies and practice. In their daily lives, these professionals face the challenge of providing healthcare to diverse populations, including indigenous peoples. However, the understanding of what health is varies according to different perspectives. With different worldviews, nurses and indigenous peoples meet at the moment of care. On this occasion, intercultural boundary relations occur - the moment when knowledge based on different values is brought face to face. What happens during interethnic encounters? How do indigenous people, far from their community, react to nursing care in a hospital? And how do nurses describe these moments of encounter at the boundary? The answers to these questions are described as a result of research conducted in two public hospitals of the SUS (Unified Health System) in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso. The nurses interviewed brought up relevant aspects of their practice and the gaps left by their undergraduate education. The study used some ethnographic resources to obtain the data for the preparation of the work.