Abstract
Following the timely declaration by the World Health Organization that 2020 was the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife” (Howard, 2019), the profession of nursing was thrust into the national spotlight. Nurses can leverage this spotlight by using their voices to advance the health of those they serve through civic engagement. Civic engagement refers to involvement in significant activities that influence and shape society (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2024). Healthy People 2030 identified civic participation as a crucial element in Social Determinants of Health that includes both voting and volunteering (Pronk et al., 2023). With over 5.2 million registered nurses across the US (Smiley et al., 2023), nurses compose the largest group of health professionals and are in a unique position to participate in civic engagement to advance health for individuals, families, and communities.
Despite the call for nurses to engage civically, research related to civic engagement among nurses in the United States has just begun to emerge over the past decade (Han & Kim, 2024). The purpose of this session is to connect findings of a recent correlational study that examined civic engagement with teaching and learning strategies in nursing education. This study found that nurses have moderate to high levels of civic attitudes and civic engagement behaviors, and that those two variables were positively correlated (r = .450, p < .01). Further, nurses with more education had higher levels of civic attitudes and civic engagement behaviors, which reflects a hopeful disposition related to the calls for nursing education to promote civic education (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2021).
The findings of this study connect with service-learning in nursing education. Related literature revealed that service-learning experiences increase civic attitudes (Shea et al., 2023). Service-learning opportunities for nursing students will weave civic engagement into the fabric of the nursing profession. Based on the AACN Essentials (AACN, 2021), nursing education can harness these experiences in undergraduate public and community health courses. Specifically, teaching and learning strategies that include service-learning can center on the essential learning domain of population health and with pedagogical applications that focus on critical reflection (Shea et al., 2023). This session will include practical ways to implement these approaches.
Notes
References:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. Accessible online at https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf
Han, N. K., & Kim, G. S. (2024). The barriers and facilitators influencing nurses’ political participation or healthcare policy intervention: A systematic review and qualitative metasynthesis. Journal of Nursing Management, 2024(1), 2606855. https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/2606855
Howard, C. (2019). 2020 Vision – The Year of the Nurse and Midwife. International Nursing Review, 66(4), 453–455. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12568
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2024). How's Life?2024: Well-being and Resilience in Times of Crisis. OECD Publishing, Paris. doi.org/10.1787/9870c393-en.
Pronk, N. P., Arena, R. A., & Ayers, J. F. (2023). Social injustice as a common source epidemic: The role of civic engagement in addressing inequitable population health. The Lancet Regional Health - Americas, 20, 100471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2023.100471
Shea, L.-M., Harkins, D., Ray, S., & Grenier, L. I. (2023). How Critical is Service-Learning Implementation? The Journal of Experiential Education, 46(2), 197–214. https://doi.org/10.1177/10538259221122738
Smiley, R.A., Allgeyer, R.L., Shobo, Y., Lyons, K.C., Letourneau, R., Zhong, E., Kaminski-Ozturk, N., and Alexander, M. (2023). The 2022 National Nursing Workforce Survey. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 14(1), S1-S90.
Sigma Membership
Omicron at-Large
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
Public and Community Health, Policy and Advocacy, Teaching and Learning Strategies, Nursing Education, Advances in Education, Civic Engagement
Recommended Citation
Rewakowski, Carrie, "Intersecting Civic Engagement Among Nurses with Service-Learning in Nursing Education" (2025). Biennial Convention (CONV). 144.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2025/presentations_2025/144
Conference Name
48th Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2025-12-01
Funder(s)
Sigma Theta Tau International. Omicron at-Large Chapter; Le Moyne College
Intersecting Civic Engagement Among Nurses with Service-Learning in Nursing Education
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Following the timely declaration by the World Health Organization that 2020 was the “Year of the Nurse and the Midwife” (Howard, 2019), the profession of nursing was thrust into the national spotlight. Nurses can leverage this spotlight by using their voices to advance the health of those they serve through civic engagement. Civic engagement refers to involvement in significant activities that influence and shape society (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2024). Healthy People 2030 identified civic participation as a crucial element in Social Determinants of Health that includes both voting and volunteering (Pronk et al., 2023). With over 5.2 million registered nurses across the US (Smiley et al., 2023), nurses compose the largest group of health professionals and are in a unique position to participate in civic engagement to advance health for individuals, families, and communities.
Despite the call for nurses to engage civically, research related to civic engagement among nurses in the United States has just begun to emerge over the past decade (Han & Kim, 2024). The purpose of this session is to connect findings of a recent correlational study that examined civic engagement with teaching and learning strategies in nursing education. This study found that nurses have moderate to high levels of civic attitudes and civic engagement behaviors, and that those two variables were positively correlated (r = .450, p < .01). Further, nurses with more education had higher levels of civic attitudes and civic engagement behaviors, which reflects a hopeful disposition related to the calls for nursing education to promote civic education (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2021).
The findings of this study connect with service-learning in nursing education. Related literature revealed that service-learning experiences increase civic attitudes (Shea et al., 2023). Service-learning opportunities for nursing students will weave civic engagement into the fabric of the nursing profession. Based on the AACN Essentials (AACN, 2021), nursing education can harness these experiences in undergraduate public and community health courses. Specifically, teaching and learning strategies that include service-learning can center on the essential learning domain of population health and with pedagogical applications that focus on critical reflection (Shea et al., 2023). This session will include practical ways to implement these approaches.
Description
Nurses can advance the health of those they serve through civic engagement. The purpose of this session is to connect the findings of a recent correlational study that examined civic engagement with approaches in nursing education. Specifically, teaching and learning strategies that include service-learning experiences, center on the essential learning domain of population health, and are focused on pedagogical applications that include critical reflection will be explored.