Advancing health equity is a core component of today’s most influential healthcare reports, studies and public health initiatives. While overcoming health disparities and systematic healthcare inequities in the U.S. is undoubtedly an important goal, working nurses may have little time to learn what they can do in their daily experience to support these causes.
However, nurse educators can integrate the concepts, principles and competencies of health equity into nursing education from the start, translating an often abstract ideal into an intrinsic function of applied nursing practice. Graduates of the Northwest Missouri State University (Northwest) online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) – Nurse Educator program learn how to cultivate a health equity mindset in students using thoughtfully-designed curricula and experiences.
What Is Health Equity?
Everyone must operate from the same definition when addressing health equity and determining helpful metrics for measuring progress. According to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), health equity is “the state in which everyone has the opportunity to attain full health potential and no one is disadvantaged from achieving this potential because of social position or any other socially defined circumstance.”
Why Should Nursing Education Address Health Disparities?
Nurses represent the largest sector of the healthcare workforce, operating in all settings and communities. Given this standing, and as noted in NASEM’s The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity, nurses will be pivotal in addressing systemic racism and the social injustices perpetuating health inequities.
Still, nurses must have the education and insight to implement changes that shift patient care toward a more equitable balance. That’s where nurse educators are critical. Nursing education coursework and experiential learning can prepare students to practice from a health equity lens, which they then model for their up-and-coming colleagues, gradually allowing the nursing profession to become champions for health equity.
Nurse educators and the curricula they develop can also introduce students to career pathways where they can apply their skills after graduation and where a need for nursing professionals is exacerbating current disparities. For example, a curriculum that explores a broad range of workplace settings — including telework and community partnerships with schools, clinics and government offices — offers students a chance to collaborate with people from all walks of life and witness firsthand the issues impeding equitable care.
In addition, health equity is central to the public health initiative Healthy People 2030, which includes the overarching goal to “eliminate health disparities, achieve health equity and attain health literacy to improve the health and well-being of all.” Again, because nurses have frequent contact with patients, they are ideally situated to identify at-risk patients, implement appropriate interventions and offer referrals to community resources to bridge health equity gaps.
Who Should Consider Nurse Educator Roles?
Although much emphasis has focused on increasing the diversity of the nursing workforce, nursing faculty must also reflect the greater population. That’s why The Future of Nursing recommendations encourage nursing schools to continue expanding recruitment efforts to establish a diverse student body and faculty who reflect the communities they serve and represent a variety of backgrounds and socioeconomic circumstances.
Nurses who want to magnify their impact in reducing health disparities should consider pursuing a degree and career in nurse education. Unfortunately, health inequities are vast and complicated, often ingrained in materials and teaching styles. So, moving the needle on health disparities will require a new generation of nurse educators to create integrated curricula and learning experiences that equip nurses with the tools to deliver person-centered care to diverse populations.
Health equity is a driving force behind many of the latest healthcare initiatives, both locally and nationally. Nurses who want to be at the forefront of the movement to enhance future nurses’ understanding of social justice and community health advocacy may find a rewarding career in nurse education.
Learn more about Northwest’s online MSN – Nurse Educator program.
