Social justice as an expression of caring through holistic admissions in a nursing program: A proposed conceptual model

Abstract

Aim: This paper presents HAR as an expression of caring to create social justice within nursing and achieve a workforce that is representative of those being served. Background: The lack of diversity within the health professions has been expressly linked in the literature to health disparities among underrepresented and marginalized groups. Recommendations: Recognizing the value of diversity within healthcare has been the impetus for some health profession programs to use holistic admissions review (HAR) in the assessment and evaluation of applicant suitability. While current HAR recommendations in nursing broaden the lens on which criteria should be used to determine applicant suitability beyond standard academic metrics, existing models do not examine applicants' caring capacity. Conclusion: Given caring is the essence of nursing, the authors offer a guiding framework to supplement the American Association of Colleges of Nursing criteria for HAR and a model by which nursing applicants are evaluated on their capacity to care.

Holistic Admission: What Is It? How Successful Has It Been in Nursing, and What Are the Possibilities?

“…As of 2020, there is limited published information on how nursing schools are implementing holistic admissions (Davis, Grobbell, Mallette, & Poly-Droulard, 2020; Lancaster, Baseman, & Smolinski, 2020; Rosenberg, 2019; Scott & Zerwic, 2015; Wross & Noone, 2018; Zerwic et al, 2018). Most of the articles in the literature are reporting on how nursing schools would set up holistic admissions, what they did set up, and lessons they learned.…”

“…understand the work of nursing, the rigors of program, had a caring attitude, and the flexibility and perseverance to be successful” (p. 671). Davis et al (2020) interviewed their applicants for attributes related to “communication, collaboration, ethics, health policy, critical thinking, awareness of society health issues and personal qualities” (p. 727). Wross and Noone (2018) considered the following attributes “commitment to social justice, oral communication, written communication, values that align with the profession, motivational fit for the profession, ability to tolerate stress, and ability to learn from experiences” (p. 214).…”

“…Data were collected via written applications, essays, interviews, and survey instruments. One organization (Davis et al, 2020) is using a valid and reliable empathy tool for healthcare providers as well as computerized personality testing; several have developed rubrics (both simple and complex) to help quantify the qualitative experience and attributes data they collect. It is interesting to see that as SONs add more qualitative data (attributes and experiences) to the HAR, they also are trying to be as quantitative as possible with the use of rubrics.…”

Social justice in health system; a neglected component of academic nursing education: a qualitative study

“…Social justice in the health system refers to providing equal healthcare services for all individuals, regardless of their personal characteristics [6]. The AACN defines social justice as fair treatment, regardless of one's economic status, race, ethnicity, age, citizenship, disability, or sexual orientation [7].…”

Social Justice in Health System; a Neglected Component of Academic Nursing Education: A Qualitative Study

“…Social justice in the health system refers to providing equal healthcare services for all individuals, regardless of their personal characteristics [6]. The AACN de nes social justice as fair treatment, regardless of one's economic status, race, ethnicity, age, citizenship, disability, or sexual orientation [7].…”