This organization focuses on promoting health equity within nursing. We aim to explore topics such as, but not limited to: anti-racism, culturally-humble care, social and structural determinants of health, trauma-informed care, and health disparities among marginalized populations. Our goal is to facilitate discussions and events centering on the impact of these intersecting issues on community health, thereby fostering intrapersonal, interpersonal, and collective growth among UCLA nursing students and within the UCLA community overall.
Time Commitment: 1
Organization Size: 34
Members typically attend events related to topics of interest. Health Equity in Nursing promotes external events related to health equity, health disparities, and social justice to our members, and also host events of our own. For example, a recent discussion group (in which members discussed an article and a podcast) focused on Black Maternal Health. One event planned for Spring 2021 is a panel discussion with nursing professionals who are advancing nursing equity in their given area. As a new organization (as of September 2020), we encourage all members to participate and contribute as much as they have capacity for.
We believe that, as healthcare providers serving diverse populations, it is of utmost importance that we better understand how societal injustices are rooted deeply in a historical context and are continuously reproduced to the detriment of achieving health equity for marginalized groups. It is our duty as student nurses to provide the best possible care to those we serve. In order to achieve this aim, we must learn to address our own internal biases and understand relevant historical and cultural context in order to advocate for our patients. We also want to think critically about how nurses, and other healthcare professionals, have been complicit in these systems of injustice throughout history, and how we can instead use our positions to dismantle these inequities. Ultimately, we envision a future healthcare system that is more just and more equitable, and we aim to play a role in its creation.
Generally, we begin our meetings by providing updates regarding recent events and efforts. Then, the rest of the meeting will be devoted to planning and organizing our next event.=