Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) has placed significant strain on United States’ health care and health care providers. While most Americans were sheltering in place, nurses headed to work. Many lacked adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), increasing the risk of becoming infected or infecting others. Some health care organizations were not transparent with their nurses; many nurses were gagged from speaking up about the conditions in their workplaces. This study used a descriptive phenomenological design to describe the lived experience of acute (...) care nurses working with limited access to PPE during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 28 acute care nurses via telephone, WebEx, and Zoom. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The major theme, emotional roller coaster, describes the varied intense emotions the nurses experienced during the early weeks of the pandemic, encompassing eight subthemes: scared and afraid, sense of isolation, anger, betrayal, overwhelmed and exhausted, grief, helpless and at a loss, and denial. Other themes include: self‐care, ‘hoping for the best’, ‘nurses are not invincible’, and ‘I feel lucky’. The high levels of stress and mental assault resulting from the COVID‐19 crisis call for early stress assessment of nurses and provision of psychological intervention to mitigate lasting psychological trauma. (shrink)

In the profession of nursing, whiteness continues to be deeply rooted because of the uncritical recognition of the white racial domination evident within the ranks of nursing leadership. White privilege is exerted in its ascendency and policy-making within the nursing discipline and in the Eurocentric agenda that commands nursing pedagogy. While attention to antiracism has recently increased, antiracism pedagogy in nursing education is nascent. Pedagogical approaches in the nursing profession are essential. Because it encompasses the strategies used to transmit the (...) science in how nurses practice and teach, which has predominantly been informed using a Eurocentric lens. This paper presents a literature review on antiracist pedagogy in nursing education, discussing how nurse educators can integrate antiracism pedagogy in nursing education, highlighting examples presented by the authors. Key terms related to antiracism are reviewed. The resultant themes from the literature review include resistance to antiracist pedagogy, managing emotional responses, and supporting transformative learning using an antiracist approach. The primary implementation of Eurocentric pedagogical approaches whiteness pervasive in nursing education must be uprooted. Antiracist and other antioppressive learning approaches must be embraced to understand the insidiousness of racial inequities and its power in sustaining structural oppression in nursing academia. (shrink)

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of Black African‐born nurses (BABN) with non‐native accents regarding their nursing career advancement in the United States. Data were collected using individual interviews. Fifteen nurses originally from three sub‐Saharan African countries were included in the study. The findings were reported under six themes: perceived low level of intelligence, not suitable to lead, making fun of/belittling, prejudging without evidence, downgrading, and accent modification. The finding indicated that participants believed that their race (...) and accent influenced their professional nursing opportunities. These results are relevant to BABNs, nurse educators, and healthcare organization leaders. BABNs are capable of participating in nursing leadership and education despite their non‐native accent. (shrink)