Developing an agenda for promoting race equality in the nurse education curriculum

Abstract

This paper gives the background to a research study which examined and evaluated current practice in relation to the promotion of race equality in the nurse education curriculum. The methodology is described, followed by reflection on the major themes generated. The study was carried out between 1991 and 1993 and had the following objectives: to identify the nature of the underlying philosophies and values which informed institutional approaches; the constraints operating on nurse teachers; the impact of the programmes on students; and the strategies needed to educate and support nurse teachers. Four main themes are discussed: the predominance of a culturalist approach to the subject of race equality; a theory/ practice dichotomy; the need for appropriate teacher preparation; the role and function of black and ethnic minority staff. The relevance of these themes for the future development of nurse education is then considered.

White dominance in nursing education: A target for anti‐racist efforts

“…The tenaciously predominant culturalist approach to nursing across difference not only misunderstands the dynamic complexity and relationality of culture, but it reifies difference in an Othering process; nurses learn about other people who have something called culture . As such, it silently reproduces Eurocentric normativity and erases processes of racialization and oppression (Baxter, 1998; Browne, 2005; Browne & Varcoe, 2006; Drevdahl, 2001; Duffy, 2001; Hassouneh, 2006; Van Herk et al., 2011; Holland, 2015; Tengelin & Dahlborg‐Lyckhage, 2017; Thorne, 2017). Race and racism are fundamentally underdeveloped in this approach, if not ignored completely.…”

“…Race has been designated a social construct since the 1950s (UNESCO, 1952, as cited in Blanchet Garneau et al., 2018) and yet race continues to be represented in health research and publications as a valid and biologically significant category (Allen, 2006; Gustafson, 2007). In the reviewed literature, disease processes and affinity (see Baxter, 1998; Vaughan, 1997) and altered pharmaceutical metabolism (see Montenery, Jones, Perry, Ross, & Zoucha, 2013) are attributed to racial or ethnic categories of people. A further example from the literature at large is in an article about intersectionality and LGBT cancer patients (see Damaskos, Amaya, Gordon, & Walters, 2018).…”

“…The climate in nursing schools is presented in this body of literature as isolating, discriminatory and unsupportive towards staff, faculty and students that are racialized (Baxter, 1998; Cortis & Law, 2005; Hassouneh, 2006, 2013; Schroeder & DiAngelo, 2010) which leads to poorer recruitment and retention, poorer performance and significant racial stress and ill‐health (Abrums et al., 2010; Alleyne et al., 1994; Beard & Julion, 2016; Cortis & Law, 2005; Schroeder & DiAngelo, 2010; Vaughan, 1997). White, Eurocentric, raciological thinking promotes a deficit appraisal of people from outside of the normative categories (Beard, 2016; Beard & Julion, 2016; Van Herk et al., 2011; Hilario, Browne, & McFadden, 2018; Scammell & Olumide, 2012; Thorne, 2017; Vaughan, 1997).…”

The Lived Experience of Socialization Among African American Nursing Students in a Predominantly White University

“…The need for diversity in nursing is widespread. Identification of the problems and potential solutions requires sensitivity to the unique experiences of specific cultural groups in health care (Baxter, 1998;Davis, 1992;Sullivan, 2004). Diversity reflects the unique viewpoint of an individual and the ability to see new problems and new solutions.…”

The (un)‐certainties of district nurses in the context of cultural diversity

“…2001). Although the importance of educational initiatives in changing attitudes and promoting a more inclusive practice is widely discussed (Foolchand 1995, Baxter 1998, Le Var 1998, Chevannes 2002), there are dangers in adopting an essentialist approach which considers minority ethnic groups as homogenous entities. The problems associated with ‘cultural education’ have been widely discussed, highlighting lack of attention to the diversity of individual experiences, and how these are shaped by, for example, socio‐economic factors and power relations (Gerrish 1997, Hagey & MacKay 2000, Price & Cortis 2000, Duffy 2001).…”