"Spinning Their Wheels "-Influences That Shape How Nurse Educators Teach Social Justice.

Despite institutional claims that social justice is a core professional nursing value, efforts to fulfill this claim remain uneven. The purpose of this study was to examine the circumstances that shape nursing educators' approaches to social justice. In-depth semi-structured interviews with 28 educators teaching theory courses in baccalaureate nursing programs shed light upon the influences that shape how educators integrate social justice. These include formative experiences, institutional factors, and curricular opportunities. Formative experiences include upbringing, educational background, and preparation to teach. Institutional factors consist of the type of institution, geographic location, and the specter of retention, promotion, and tenure. Finally, curricular opportunities and fit include the positioning of Community Health Nursing, fragmentation and tension between "content and context," and the "driving force" of the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX). Findings indicate that the capacity to uphold the value of social justice is shaped by experiences across the lifespan, institutional policies, and practices related to faculty hiring, development, career advancement, as well as curricular vision. This study calls for a concerted effort to enact social justice nursing education.

"Social justice is a dream": Tensions and contradictions in nursing education.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore nurse educators' conceptualizations of social justice in theory courses. The findings contextualize the role of nurse educators in promoting social justice among future health care providers and the relevance of their perspectives on social justice. DESIGN: This descriptive qualitative study was completed utilizing constructivist grounded theory methods. SAMPLE AND MEASUREMENTS: I interviewed 28 nurse educators teaching theory courses in Baccalaureate nursing programs on the West coast of the United States. Initial and focused codes were constructed from interview transcripts to understand and contextualize statements about social justice. RESULTS: Participants' conceptualizations of social justice include equity, equality, self-awareness, withholding judgment, and taking action. CONCLUSIONS: Notable differences emerged along racial lines and, less so, in relation to educational background and nursing specialty. This study highlights areas of concern with respect to how nurse educators enact the claim that social justice is a core professional nursing value. The findings call attention to tensions and contradictions as individuals navigate the landscape of nursing with limited structural and institutional effort.

Critical discourse analysis of social justice in nursing's foundational documents.

OBJECTIVE: Social inequities threaten the health of the global population. A superficial acknowledgement of social justice by nursing's foundational documents may limit the degree to which nurses view injustice as relevant to nursing practice and education. The purpose was to examine conceptualizations of social justice and connections to broader contexts in the most recent editions. DESIGN: Critical discourse analysis examines and uncovers dynamics related to power, language, and inequality within the American Nurses Association's Code of Ethics, Scope and Standards of Practice, and Social Policy Statement. RESULTS: This analysis found ongoing inconsistencies in conceptualizations of social justice. Although the Code of Ethics integrates concepts related to social justice far more than the other two, tension between professionalism and social change emerges. The discourse of professionalism renders interrelated cultural, social, economic, historical, and political contexts nearly invisible. CONCLUSION: Greater consistency would provide a clearer path for nurses to mobilize and engage in the courageous work necessary to address social injustice. These findings also call for an examination of how nurses can critique and use the power and privilege of professionalism to amplify the connection between social institutions and health equity in nursing education, practice, and policy development.