ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Historically, in the United States, nursing programs reflected practices that systematically discriminated against Black students and nurses. OBJECTIVES: The authors investigated historical nursing school admission policies to determine if racist practices existed that impeded Black students' ability to access formal nurse training programs. This study further examined whether those historical discriminating practices continue to exist in schools of nursing today and if admission policies in a Southern School of Nursing contributed to inequitable admission of students. Current recommendations for increasing diversity, equity and inclusion in nursing schools will be addressed. METHODS: This study combines social-historical archival research with a case study of the racial breakdown of applied versus admitted nursing students at a Southern university. RESULTS: School of Nursing admission data (2019-2021) demonstrate discrepancies in the distribution of admitted students by race, reflecting the ongoing effects of systematic discrimination. CONCLUSIONS: In the United States, the nursing profession is pursuing strategies to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, the lingering effects of policies that systematically built barriers keeping underrepresented groups from earning a nursing education persist. Holistic admission is one way that nursing programs can address this inequity.
Subject(s)
Education, Nursing , Students, Nursing , Humans , Policy , Schools, Nursing , United States , UniversitiesABSTRACT
Despite tremendous challenges, in the early 20th century school nurses provided the first, and often only, medical care for thousands of schoolchildren and their families. However, multiple barriers impeded the developing role. Influences of historical events, financial support, lack of knowledge regarding benefits of the school nurse role, limited access to training, and issues of poor pay affected the Commonwealth of Virginia's attempts to develop and provide school nursing throughout the diverse rural counties across the state. School nurses continue to face these challenges today. The purpose of this social historical research is to identify, describe, and analyze the origins and evolving role of the school nurse in the rural counties of Virginia, 1900-1925; investigate how this history influences school nursing today; and offer several suggestions rooted in findings for moving the profession forward as outlined by Cowell's response to recommendations made by the Institute of Medicine.
Subject(s)
Nurses , School Nursing , Child , Humans , Nurse's Role , Schools , VirginiaABSTRACT
This study investigated the origin and implementation of school nursing in New York City, using traditional historical methods with a social history framework. The intent of this research was to produce a comprehensive historical analysis of school nursing at the turn of the 20th century in order to provide a historical framework to promote the work of school nurses today. Understanding the core fundamental concepts of school nursing from its origins and the significance of the emergence of community support for the role of the school nurse at the turn of the 20th century can inform current policy to back school nursing and school health today.
