Proposal for a Global Agenda to Eliminate Racism in Nursing and Nursing Education

Abstract

This chapter proposes a global agenda to eliminate racism in nursing by targeting reform at nursing education administration internationally. First, the history of racism in nursing is reviewed, along with two models – the diversity model and the cultural competence model – that were applied unsuccessfully to counteract racism in nursing. Second, a description of how racism is entrenched in nursing leadership globally is presented. Third, the recalcitrant structures that serve to maintain institutionalized racism (IR) in the international nursing education system are carefully examined. Specifically, the components and constructs involved in IR in nursing education are delineated, and the way in which these negatively impact both ethnic minority (EM) students and faculty are explained. Based on this, a global agenda to eliminate racism in nursing education internationally is proposed. Eliminating racism in higher education in nursing is a mandatory social responsibility if global healthcare is ever to be equitable. Five actionable recommendations are made to eliminate racism in higher education are summarized as follows: (1) components of nursing programs which are designed to eliminate racism in nursing education should be governed at the country level, (2) to design and implement a system of surveillance of the global nursing community to enable standardized measurement to ensure nursing education programs in all countries are meeting anti-racism benchmark targets, (3) nursing education programs should be established worldwide to provide individual pipeline and mentorship programs to ensure the career success of EM nursing students and faculty, (4) nursing education programs should be conducted to reduce barriers to EM participation in these individual support programs, and (5) nursing education programs are required to teach their nursing faculty skills in developing anti-racist curricula that seeks to eliminate implicit bias.

Citation

Iheduru-Anderson, K.C. and Wahi, M.M. (2020), "Proposal for a Global Agenda to Eliminate Racism in Nursing and Nursing Education", Sengupta, E., Blessinger, P. and Mahoney, C. (Ed.) Civil Society and Social Responsibility in Higher Education: International Perspectives on Curriculum and Teaching Development (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 21), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 17-43. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000021004