Philanthropic Foundations' Discourse and Nursing's Future

Abstract

In this article, we examine external agents' effect on nursing's professional evolution and the consequences for the discipline's collective agency, social contract, and self-regulation. Situated within Foucault's theories of power, we review how the power of organizations reaches into the fabric of everyday life and explore how philanthropic foundations have influenced a diverse array of disciplines, including nursing. Through a genealogic lens, we examine nursing history and professionalization and conclude with concerns surrounding nursing's exercise of its collective agency during one of the most significant, discipline-shaping activities of modern times—Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Future of Nursing initiatives.

Philanthropic Foundations' Discourse and Nursing's Future: Part II

“…As pointed out in part I, 2 genealogy, with its focus on relationships of power, builds upon what archaeology reveals. In this instance, our findings revealed that nursing's agency was thwarted through discursive practices across FON initiatives in 2 ways: (1) reduction in the overall number of nurses as invited speakers relative to speakers from other disciplines, and (2) minimizing nursing's collective voice as a function of the compressed speaking time for professional nursing organizations' representatives.…”

“…This was largely due to speakers representing nursing organizations either being positioned in invited presentation slots with less presentation time (most often between 3.5 and 5 minutes each, compared with several invited speaker slots allowing 20-30 minutes per speaker) or having to compete for time in the public speaker sphere (limited to 2 minutes per speaker)40,41 (see Table 2). As argued in part I,2 nursing organizations serve as primary sources of collective agency for the discipline 2. When nursing's professional organizations' voices are limited, there are consequences for how, or even if, nursing is exercising collective agency.…”

“…As argued in part I, 2 nursing organizations serve as primary sources of collective agency for the discipline. 2 When nursing's professional organizations' voices are limited, there are consequences for how, or even if, nursing is exercising collective agency.…”

“…HOW FOUNDATIONS exert control over discursive spaces in a wide range of societal contexts are described in part I of this 2-part series 2. Funded by The Rockefeller Foundation in 1923, the Goldmark Report marked the beginning of an era of philanthropic foundations' (hereafter, foundations ) influence on the discourse of, in, and about nursing in the United States that has intensified over time 3.…”

“…H OW FOUNDATIONS exert control over discursive spaces in a wide range of societal contexts are described in part I of this 2-part series. 2 Funded by The Rockefeller Foundation in 1923, the Goldmark Report marked the beginning of an era of philanthropic foundations' (hereafter, foundations) influence on the discourse of, in, and about nursing in the United States that has intensified over time. 3 As intended, the Goldmark Report defined the content and educational pathways of nursing in the United States and led to The Rockefeller Foundation providing funds establishing the first US School of Nursing at Yale University in 1923.…”