Nursing Schools โFace Challenges inโ Equitably Representing Diverse Patient Careโ in Textbooks & Open Resources
A new analysis reveals both traditional nursing textbooks โฃand freely available โฃOpen Educational Resources (OER) fall short inโ accurately and comprehensively โportraying care for diverse patient populations, โคpotentially contributing to biased โinstruction and poorer health outcomes. The study, examining materials โpublished as 2016, underscores a โฃcritical need for educators โto meticulously โevaluate curricular resourcesโ and proactively supplement gaps in โcoverage.
Nursing โprograms nationwide are under increasingโค pressure to โprepare graduates for a rapidly diversifying patient base. However,this research indicates that commonly used learning materials often contain outdatedโค terminology,insufficient depiction,and ultimately,perpetuate biases that โcan negatively impact the qualityโค of care provided to marginalized communities.โข Theโข findings highlight a significantโ challenge โfor nursing education: ensuring students receive the knowledge and sensitivity required to deliver โtruly inclusive and equitable healthcare.โค
The discursive paper, published recently, systematicallyโฃ compared textbooks and OER utilized in nursing curricula. Researchers utilizedโ databases including CINAHL, EBSCOHost, and PubMed to gather data, focusing on โขpublications from โฃ2016 onward. The evaluation โขcentered on the โoverall representation of diverse populations within these resources.
Results indicated that while both textbooksโข and OER offer distinct โadvantages, neither consistently provides adequate coverage of diverse patient care. A โฃrecurring issue identified wasโข the misuse โขof terminology and a general lack of inclusive representation throughout โขthe materials. The study emphasizes that relianceโ on outdated information introduces โbias into nursing education,potentially leading to adverse patient outcomes.
The analysis concludes that โฃno single resource currently excels in representing diverse populations. A promising solution liesโฃ in a blended โคapproach, integrating content from both textbooks and OER โฃto mitigate theโ limitations inherent in each. โcrucially, the paper stresses the obligationโข of educators to criticallyโข assess resources for accuracyโข and proactively โaddress any identified deficiencies โฃto ensure students are fully prepared to provide culturallyโข competent and inclusive care.
Keywords: Curricular resources; diversity; Nursing โคeducation; Patient outcomes.
