Incorporating social justice learning into competency-based graduate nursing: A discussion of integrating pedagogies

Abstract

Background: The impact of social inequity on the collective health of a society is well documented and, despite decades of research, the problem persists on a global scale. Nurse practitioners are competent to treat the downstream health effects of social inequity, but nursing students may lack the structural awareness to accurately target primary prevention efforts.

Objective: The authors discuss faculty preparation and pedagogical considerations when incorporating social justice learning into a graduate and post-graduate psychiatric nurse practitioner course.

Design/methods: Guided by Walter's Emancipatory Nursing Praxis model, several pedagogical strategies were developed to enhance graduate nursing students' awareness of oppressive and unjust realities in the healthcare setting.

Conclusion: Emancipatory pedagogical strategies in competency-based graduate nursing education can enhance the transformative social learning essential for the development of health equity praxis.

Keywords: Graduate nursing education; Health equity; Learning environment; Pedagogy; Psychiatric nursing; Social justice.