Exploring Race in Nursing: Teaching Nursing Students about Racial Inequality Using the Historical Lens

Abstract

Discussing racial inequalities is challenging for nursing faculty and students of all races. Faculty report feeling inadequately prepared to systematically address this topic within clinical and classroom learning environments. This article reports student attitudes of race and health following a case study discussion of racial inequalities present in nursing and healthcare in Charleston, South Carolina between the years of 1883 to 2016. Forty-two students completed a 10-item visual analog scale (VAS) measuring their level of agreement regarding the issues of race and health before and after a classroom lecture. Most students reported an increase in racial tolerance following the lecture. A few students, however, indicated a decrease in racial tolerance following the lecture. Strategies for integrating the curriculum with learning experiences regarding issues of race are discussed.

Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students: Exploring the Challenges and Perceptions of Nursing Faculty

“…This research supported previous research in that participants did not reflect the diversity of nursing students (Zajac, 2011). Most were white women, common in nursing programs (Bennett et al, 2019). Twelve percent of the participants stated they could speak a language other than English.…”

Critical Race Theory: A Framework for the Re-Education of American Nurses

“…Current nursing education practices often place students of color in positions where they are further marginalized and oppressed due to the racial hierarchy that denotes access to rights, resources, and power. Nurse educators must address the inherent race-based power differential that is relatively invisible in current nursing education practices (Bennett et al, 2019).…”

Countering Structural Racism through Alternative Approaches to Baccalaureate Nursing Education

“…As is typical in the US, racism historically influenced the pathways to nursing by limiting nursing education to White individuals (Bennett et al, 2019). Black women were denied entry into nursing schools in the southern states while experiencing restricted entry into nursing schools in the northern states (Bennett et al, 2019).…”

“…As is typical in the US, racism historically influenced the pathways to nursing by limiting nursing education to White individuals (Bennett et al, 2019). Black women were denied entry into nursing schools in the southern states while experiencing restricted entry into nursing schools in the northern states (Bennett et al, 2019). Black physicians, who themselves were denied the ability to practice at local hospitals, opened their own hospitals in collaboration with schools of nursing to train Black nurses (Bennett et al, 2019)…”