On the global polycrisis: Speaking up for the ethical imperative of Left, socialist politics in nursing

Nurses know how to speak up. We bring powerful voices forward for justice, historically and currently, in all manner of forums local, regional, national, and global. However, we have not coalesced in any substantive way around the current global polycrisis of growing and blatant rights violations at the hands of governments’ alt-Right promotion of unfettered capitalism and hatred of marginalized and  racialized peoples. This editorial provides a description of Left, socialist politics and Right-alt-Right politics for nursing, with a call for nurses to join mobilization for Left politics to confront the global polycrisis of vast inequitable and widening global economic and social inequalities and climate emergency

Resilience as Accusation: A Critical Examination of Individual Resilience Training for Burnout Mitigation

Abstract Burnout, a syndrome of work-related exhaustion and cynicism, is prevalent among nurses and is associated with workplace stressors. Resilience training programs are a prevalent method of burnout mitigation employed by healthcare institutions that aim to improve or alter how individuals respond to chronic stressors. Through the lens of General Systems Theory, we describe resilience training as a method of individualizing a systemic problem by problematizing a response to chronic stress exposure. Resilience training may furthermore serve as a mechanism which allows subversion of institutional responsibility for nurses’ well-being in the workplace. We describe several suggestions for nurses to resist being scapegoated for their responses to systemic problems. Sustainable change must include other disciplines and is likely to require multiple different avenues including individual (e.g., honoring meal breaks), institutional (e.g., increased leadership participation), legislative (e.g., mandatory staffing laws), collective (e.g., collective bargaining), and educational (e.g., emancipatory pedagogy) methods

Words that Come Before All Else: An Embodied Decolonizing Praxis

Abstract: In this article, we consider the communal practice of reading the Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address: Ohen:ton Karihwatehkwen as an entry point into anti-racism work in nursing education. We describe how this practice, inspired by Kimmerer’s (2013) Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teaching of plants, creates brave and generative spaces for students and educators to engage in difficult conversations about settler colonial violence and its ongoing impacts on Indigenous Peoples. We consider a broad theoretical overview of the history and practice of the Thanksgiving Address and how as a decolonizing practice, it works to counter the colonial logics that often dominate western academic institutions. The intentional and embodied practice teaches us about our kinship responsibilities, moves us toward a renewed relationship with the human and more-than-human world, cultivates gratitude, reciprocity, and a sense of belonging, and prepares us to engage in anti-racism work. &nbsp

Reconceptualizing biomedical paradigms for contraceptive care through feminist poststructuralism

In the specificities of contraceptive care, sexual health is comprehensively defined as overall physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being related to sexuality, including experiences that are safe, pleasurable, and free of coercion. However, due to the predominance of biomedical paradigms that promote and espouse ‘unbiased’ and ‘objective’ contraceptive care practices, comprehensive, inclusive, and safe sexual health care remains limited. In this article, we argue that feminist poststructuralist knowledge is needed to reconceptualize sexual health care, ultimately promoting reproductive justice through social change and advancement of reproductive rights. We demonstrate how nursing as a discipline and profession can utilize feminist poststructuralist theoretical perspectives to challenge dominant discourses within contraceptive care and lead to the delivery of equity-owed contraceptive and sexual health care for cisgender women and people who can get pregnant

Providing equity-oriented care and services: Perspectives of primary care nurses working in Nunavik Inuit communities

Health inequities experienced by Indigenous Peoples are the consequence of unbalanced structural determinants of health, mainly due to systemic racism and colonialism. Primary care registered nurses face multiple challenges, including lacking resources to care for these communities and address health inequities. This study aimed to explore equity-oriented care and services from the perspectives of primary care registered nurses working in Nunavik (Northern Quebec, Canada) Inuit communities. We used a critical postcolonial perspective and an interpretive descriptive design. We conducted semi-structured interviews with ten participants and thematically analyzed the data collected. The results showed dynamic conceptualizations of equity-oriented care and services that shaped how participants see the northern colonial context, the healthcare accessibility, and the nursing care approach within Inuit communities. From these findings, we call for accountability measures like antiracist policies to promote transformational changes toward health equity

Rethinking Children’s Nursing: Critical learnings from Childhood Studies

Within this commentary, I contest dominant views and practices regarding im/maturity within Children’s Nursing that are rooted in refuted age-based conceptions of child development. I highlight how these operate as forms of epistemological oppression that perpetuate the exclusion of young people’s voices and experiences in research, policymaking and practice development that affects them. These dominant approaches breach their participation rights and can generate significant distress and trauma. To counter these oppressive views and practices, I discuss an inclusive participatory framework that is centered on the recognition of young people as human agents, acknowledging their voices as forms of agential expression and action. I argue that all research, policymaking and practice development that affects young people should be informed by their aspirations and concerns expressed through respectful – not tokenistic - youth engagement initiatives. I argue for an urgently-needed restructuring of Children’s Nursing theory and practice

Listening to voices that are challenging to hear: participatory hermeneutics ethnography with children with medical complexity

This manuscript explores the integration of participatory hermeneutic ethnography in research with children with complexity, particularly those who communicate differently. Traditional research methods often exclude these children, leading to a lack of representation of their unique experiences. The study employs a participatory approach that emphasizes ethical considerations, relational perspectives, and the inclusion of non-verbal communication methods to better capture the voices of these children. The research involved eight children with medical complexity, along with their families and healthcare professionals, providing a comprehensive understanding of their lived experiences. Data collection was conducted over seven months using methods such as participant observation, informal and structured interviews, and innovative techniques like drawing, storytelling, and play-based activities. The study highlighted the importance of respecting each child’s unique communication style and ensuring their active participation in the research process. The findings reveal that traditional biomedical approaches often overlook the complex social and moral realities of children’s experiences. By employing a hermeneutic framework, the research provided deeper insights into the children’s expressions, both verbal and non-verbal, within their broader social contexts. This approach also underscored the significance of understanding children’s voices through the lens of their relational and social environments. The study underscores the necessity of inclusive and participatory research methodologies for effectively capturing the varied experiences of children with medical complexity. It calls for a shift away from normalized expectations of verbal communication and emphasizes the need for continued development of methods that respect and validate the agency of all children, regardless of their communication abilities. The implications of this research extend to both academic inquiry and clinical practice, advocating for more ethically attuned and inclusive approaches in working with children who communicate differently. Future research should build on these findings, exploring innovative strategies to further empower these children and enhance our understanding of their experiences

Ethical Considerations for Children Undergoing Surgery: Evaluation of Graduate Nursing Students’ Learning

Background: To challenge dominant conceptions of children and innovate nursing education, our team created an open-access training module (https://childsxethics.net/) addressing ethical considerations for children undergoing surgery.  Objective: To evaluate the level of Bloom’s Taxonomy cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning reached by graduate nursing students after completing the training module.  Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Data sources comprised of participants’ course assignments. Results: Participants (n=19) wrote 19 online reflections, 43 peer responses and completed two group assignments. The module and associated class assignments promoted high levels of cognitive and affective learning. The type of assignment influenced participants’ levels of learning. Cognitive and affective learning processes were enhanced when integrating reflections and fostering interactions among learners. Implications: Study findings will inform future iterations of the training module. Our innovative educational resource will facilitate the recognition of children as active moral agents and improve their surgical experiences.&nbsp

Striving for Health Equity Through Nursing Education: A Critical Examination of Non-traditional Community Health Placements

Undergraduate nursing programs are increasingly using non-traditional community health placements within their curricula, though their impact on the organizations and clients they serve has not been widely explored. Therefore, this article aims to examine the use of non-traditional community health placements in undergraduate nursing programs using the political economy of health inequities as an analytical framework. We discuss the limits of non-traditional placements in addressing health inequities, suggesting our work contributes to the perception that something is being done to address the dual unregulated drug poisoning and housing crises while failing to tackle their root causes. We theorize that non-traditional health placements allow nursing programs to continue to graduate enough nurses to meet increasing workforce demands under prolonged austerity measures that have reduced funding to both post-secondary institutions and public health. Finally, we discuss strategies to mitigate harm and commit to more equitable partnerships. Keywords: political economy of health inequities, health equity, non-traditional placements, community health nursing, nursing educatio

Structural Determinants of Health: Towards a Political Economy of Health Perspective for Nursing

This Invited Commentary focuses on a brief summary of how structural determinants of health (DoH) are framed in nursing and how a focus on the political economy of health can support identifying and addressing the ideological drivers of the structural DoH. Structural determinants focus on the politics and histories of enduring root causes of preventable injustices. There is a nascent literature in nursing regarding the structural DoH, which includes policy and governance processes, interlocking systems of oppression and discrimination, and social and economic structures that contribute to forces of power inherent in financial, legal, and governmental systems and policies. However, it is also crucially important to name and analyze their root ideological foundations because this is the space where structural change must be targeted. Various ideologies, intentionally or unintentionally, drive policy, politics, institutional governance and decision-making, and so on. The political economy of health is a foundational field that supports identifying these ideological drivers of the structural DoH. The invited commentary concludes with reflections and recommendations for nursing