Publication Date

2006

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Jeris, Laurel

Degree Name

Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

Legacy Department

Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education

LCSH

Nursing schools--United States--Faculty--Attitudes; Minority college students--United States

Abstract

The 21st century is seeing a nursing shortage as never seen before, and the profession of nursing has failed to reflect the increasing diversity in the United States. Nursing leaders have called upon colleges of nursing to increase admission, recruitment, and retention of minority nursing students to help meet the shortage and increase the ethnic and racial diversity within American nursing. This study explored nursing faculty views on the cultural, political, and social aspects of nursing education within the American health care system and academe that affect minority students within a community college nursing program. A feminist perspective and the naturalistic inquiry paradigm were used to gather information first through participant observations of nursing faculty at workshops and meetings, and then interviews were conducted with suburban community college nursing faculty. Data were collected using participant observation and field notes during the observations and the interviews were semistructured and audiotaped. Utilizing constant comparison, key findings were that 1) nursing is identified as a culture of caring, 2) othering, patriarchy, and hegemonic practices maintain status quo in nursing, and 3) racial bias and stereotyping of minority students lead to cultural conflicts for nursing faculty members. Implications for practice include a need to examine how nursing faculty are trained to meet the needs of diverse students. There is also a need for increased awareness by nursing faculty of the unconscious white privilege and the Euro- American cultural framework of nursing that affects minority nursing students’ successes in community college nursing programs.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [180]-190).

Extent

ix, 201 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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