Nursing Students' Perceptions of Racism in Nursing and Health Care.

BACKGROUND

Due to the dearth of literature regarding teaching racism in health care and the commitment of nursing organizations to address racism in health care, this project examined nursing students' perceptions of racism in nursing and health care to identify effective teaching strategies for addressing racism in curricula.

METHOD

This study used a mixed-methods pre- and postintervention design to examine multiple methods of teaching nursing students about racism in health care. Frequencies, descriptive statistics, and content analysis were used to analyze data.

RESULTS

Sixty-six graduate and undergraduate students participated in the study. Mean responses on a postintervention survey increased for all but one item. Content analysis of student-guided reflective journal entries yielded four themes: uncomfortable topic yet necessary to discuss, new awareness, courage to advocate, and application to practice.

CONCLUSION

Effective teaching methods to address this issue include open discussions, storytelling, and case studies. .