Abstract
Social and health inequities and inequalities are rising all over the world (Smith, 2012; McGibbon, et. al., 2014; Chinn, et. al., 2018). Nursing students should therefore be educated to understand the multifaceted factors creating health inequities. The lack of nursing courses highlighting the effects of colonization, environmental justice, upstream structural and social determinants of health, globalization, and state violence must be addressed. Colonization, broadly speaking, characterizes the Eurocentric project to “civilize” the rest of the world utilizing various forms of violence (McGibbon, et. al., 2014). The persistent and ongoing reproduction and recurrence of colonialism, enacting cycles of disenfranchisement and oppression, creates significant inequities in physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being for historically marginalized groups of people (Smith, 2012). Because gaps in nursing curricula and outdated teaching practices may support persistent inequities, scholars, and students have advocated for the decolonization of nursing curricula (Smith, 2012; McGibbon, et. al., 2014; Chinn, et. al., 2018). Decolonization is a process that includes the “critical deconstruction of colonial ideologies of superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches.” (Cull, et. al., n.d). The purpose of this analysis is to identify decolonial approaches to nursing curricula that support students' learning about Indigenous and other non-Western knowledge. This analysis utilizes decolonial theory and postcolonial feminism to suggest pathways to decolonize nursing curricula.
Notes
References:
1. Smith, L. (2012). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples Social
2. McGibbon (2014). Toward decolonizing nursing: The colonization of nursing and strategies for increasing the counter narrative.
3. Chinn, P. L., & Falk Rafael, A. (2018). Embracing the focus of the discipline of nursing: Critical caring pedagogy.
4. Cull, I., et. al., Pulling Together: A Guide for Front-Line Staff, Student Services, and Advisors
5. E. Tuck & K.W. Yang Decolonization is not a metaphor, Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society
Sigma Membership
Beta Eta at-Large
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, Nursing Education, Globalization
Recommended Citation
Thomas, Nicole Ashley; Owen, Brenda; Ersig, Anne; Wispelwey, Bram; and Bratske, Lisa C., "Building Decolonial Nursing Curricula to Address Disparities in Indigenous Health" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 2.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/posters_2025/2
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, 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.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Building Decolonial Nursing Curricula to Address Disparities in Indigenous Health
Seattle, Washington, USA
Social and health inequities and inequalities are rising all over the world (Smith, 2012; McGibbon, et. al., 2014; Chinn, et. al., 2018). Nursing students should therefore be educated to understand the multifaceted factors creating health inequities. The lack of nursing courses highlighting the effects of colonization, environmental justice, upstream structural and social determinants of health, globalization, and state violence must be addressed. Colonization, broadly speaking, characterizes the Eurocentric project to “civilize” the rest of the world utilizing various forms of violence (McGibbon, et. al., 2014). The persistent and ongoing reproduction and recurrence of colonialism, enacting cycles of disenfranchisement and oppression, creates significant inequities in physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being for historically marginalized groups of people (Smith, 2012). Because gaps in nursing curricula and outdated teaching practices may support persistent inequities, scholars, and students have advocated for the decolonization of nursing curricula (Smith, 2012; McGibbon, et. al., 2014; Chinn, et. al., 2018). Decolonization is a process that includes the “critical deconstruction of colonial ideologies of superiority and privilege of Western thought and approaches.” (Cull, et. al., n.d). The purpose of this analysis is to identify decolonial approaches to nursing curricula that support students' learning about Indigenous and other non-Western knowledge. This analysis utilizes decolonial theory and postcolonial feminism to suggest pathways to decolonize nursing curricula.
Description
Methods are available to develop and operationalize decolonial and Indigenized nursing curricula, which are currently based solely in a Western pedagogical framework.