“Spinning Their Wheels … ”—Influences That Shape How Nurse Educators Teach Social Justice

Despite institutional claims that social justice is a core professional nursing value, efforts to fulfill this claim remain uneven. The purpose of this study was to examine the circumstances that shape nursing educators' approaches to social justice. In-depth semi-structured interviews with 28...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Policy, politics & nursing practice politics & nursing practice, 2019-11, Vol.20 (4), p.239-251
Main Authors: Valderama-Wallace, Claire P., Apesoa-Varano, Ester Carolina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Career advancement
Community health
Community nursing
Health promotion
Hiring
Licensing
Medical education
Nurse tutors
Nursing
Positioning
Segmentation
Social justice
Teachers
Teaching
Tenure
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Summary:Despite institutional claims that social justice is a core professional nursing value, efforts to fulfill this claim remain uneven. The purpose of this study was to examine the circumstances that shape nursing educators' approaches to social justice. In-depth semi-structured interviews with 28 educators teaching theory courses in baccalaureate nursing programs shed light upon the influences that shape how educators integrate social justice. These include formative experiences, institutional factors, and curricular opportunities. Formative experiences include upbringing, educational background, and preparation to teach. Institutional factors consist of the type of institution, geographic location, and the specter of retention, promotion, and tenure. Finally, curricular opportunities and fit include the positioning of Community Health Nursing, fragmentation and tension between “content and context,” and the “driving force” of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX). Findings indicate that the capacity to uphold the value of social justice is shaped by experiences across the lifespan, institutional policies, and practices related to faculty hiring, development, career advancement, as well as curricular vision. This study calls for a concerted effort to enact social justice nursing education.
ISSN:1527-1544
1552-7468
DOI:10.1177/1527154419881726