‘Much work’ needed to fight racism, nursing dean says
The University of Washington has launched a new “Center for Antiracism in Nursing.”
“Systemic racism has for generations undermined the health of individuals and communities across America, a public health crisis that has made the pandemic even more deadly and destructive for people of color,” the public university in Seattle said in a news release on February 5.
The nursing school dean said “nurses are in the ideal position” to combat racism. ““There is much work to do to become antiracist, not just as a society, but as a school, a university, a profession and a community,” Azita Emami said in the media statement.
A nurse practitioner said she hopes the center will help confront “white privilege” and “anti-blackness.”
“I believe the process of creating the Center for Antiracism in Nursing will provide a way for the school to reconcile and find resolve within its own walls that have promoted anti-blackness and white privilege,” Joycelyn Thomas said in the news release.
The center, which plans to hold a series of listening sessions as it formulates the center, has a number of goals.
The goals include “Cultivating antiracist teaching practices, academic curriculum and professional development,” “Supporting students from underrepresented and historically excluded groups” and “Applying antiracist principles to clinical practice, organizational operations and health-related policy.”
University President Ana Marie Cauce said that the public university “recognize(s) the need to combat the systemic racism that results in poorer healthcare and worse outcomes for Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other communities of color.”
The nursing school has also created several workgroups on anti-racism.
An “Anti-Racism Pledge” for students is pending approval, according to the nursing school’s announcement. The nursing school removed the pledge from its website but a cached version can be read here.
“Both an anti-racism end of program learning goal and an anti-racism student essential behavior for all academic degree programs have been developed,” the nursing school said. The proposals “are currently being circulated through the UW Seattle degree program coordinating committees.”
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