An Exploration of Nursing Informatics Instructors' Perceptions of Social Justice: A Descriptive Phenomenology

For nursing students

Study summary

This article explores how nursing informatics instructors perceive social justice. Nursing informatics combines nursing, computer science, and information technology to manage health data. Social justice means ensuring everyone has fair access to healthcare resources.

The study used a qualitative approach called descriptive phenomenology. This method focuses on understanding people's lived experiences of a particular phenomenon—in this case, how these instructors perceive social justice. The researcher interviewed five nursing informatics instructors from three Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs in the United States. These instructors are experts who teach future nurses about using technology to improve patient care.

The study aimed to understand what these instructors think about social justice and how they incorporate this concept into their teaching. It sought to uncover common themes or patterns in their perceptions rather than just collecting numerical data.

Five main themes emerged from the interviews: 1. **Problems in Healthcare:** Instructors recognized various injustices within healthcare systems, such as disparities in access to care for different populations and systemic biases that affect patient outcomes. 2. **Nursing Informatics Contributions to Social Justice:** They discussed how nursing informatics tools (like electronic health records or data analytics) can help identify these problems and support efforts to make healthcare more equitable. 3. **Amount of Content:** There was variability among instructors regarding how much social justice content they included in their curricula for DNP students specializing in nursing informatics. 4. **Action:** Instructors felt a responsibility to not only teach about social justice but also to encourage students to take action or advocate for change within the healthcare system. 5. **The Role of Data:** The instructors emphasized that data is crucial for understanding and addressing health disparities, as it can reveal patterns of injustice and inform solutions.

From these themes, an overall essence was identified: DNP nursing informatics instructors perceive social justice as a recognition of existing injustices in healthcare. They believe this awareness should be addressed through actionable education within their programs, where data plays a key role in creating more equitable healthcare systems that meet everyone's needs.

The study found that while all five instructors understood the importance of social justice, they differed in how deeply and consistently it was integrated into their teaching styles and curricula. Some might focus on specific aspects or tools related to social justice within informatics, while others might weave it more broadly throughout their courses.

For nursing students, this study highlights that understanding social justice is an important part of becoming a nurse informaticist. It suggests that future nurses in this field need to be aware of health disparities and how technology can help address them. Students should critically appraise the content they learn about social justice: Is it presented as just one topic among many, or is it woven into the core principles of nursing informatics? They might also consider whether their own programs cover these topics adequately.

It's important to note that this study was a dissertation, which means its findings are specific to the instructors interviewed and may not represent all nursing informatics educators. The source record indicates that full text access is via ProQuest LLC, with rights managed by them (permission required for further reproduction). As students, you should always check your institution's library resources or databases like ERIC (where this paper can be found using ID ED652906) to access the full dissertation if needed. The abstract itself doesn't provide details on sample sizes beyond mentioning five instructors from three programs.

A nurse reasoning from this evidence might consider how their own education in nursing informatics prepared them for addressing social justice issues. They could reflect on whether they feel equipped with both the knowledge and tools (like data analysis skills) to contribute to more equitable healthcare systems through their work as an informaticist. The study suggests that while awareness of social justice is present among these instructors, its practical application in curriculum design varies.

In summary, this research provides valuable insights into how a specific group of nursing educators views the intersection of nursing informatics and social justice. It underscores the potential role of nurse informaticists in promoting equitable healthcare through technology and data-driven solutions.

For educators

Teaching and appraisal notes

This doctoral dissertation by Kristin Ndoda explores the perceptions of social justice among five instructors teaching Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs specializing in nursing informatics, across three US institutions. Employing descriptive phenomenology—a qualitative research method focused on understanding lived experiences—the study aimed to uncover how these educators conceptualize and integrate social justice into their curricula.

The Giorgi method was used for data analysis, which involved transcribing interviews with the five participants (all of whom were instructors in DNP nursing informatics programs) and systematically identifying recurring patterns or themes. This approach allowed for an inductive discovery process, where findings emerged directly from the interview data rather than being pre-defined by a hypothesis.

The research identified five core thematic categories that collectively describe how these instructors perceive social justice: 1. **Problems in Healthcare:** Recognition of systemic injustices and disparities within healthcare systems. 2. **Nursing Informatics Contributions to Social Justice:** Understanding how informatics tools (e.g., EHRs, data analytics) can be leveraged to identify issues and support equitable care. 3. **Amount of Content:** Variability in the extent to which social justice topics are covered within their specific DNP nursing informatics courses. 4. **Action:** A sense of responsibility among instructors to not only teach about social justice but also to foster student action or advocacy. 5. **The Role of Data:** Emphasis on data as a critical tool for understanding and addressing health disparities.

These themes converged into an overarching essence: DNP nursing informatics instructors perceive social justice primarily as the recognition of existing healthcare injustices, which they believe should be addressed through actionable educational strategies within their programs. This action is often facilitated by leveraging data to create more equitable healthcare systems that cater to all individuals' needs.

A key finding was the observed variability in how deeply and consistently these instructors integrated social justice into their teaching styles and curricular content for DNP students, despite a shared understanding of its importance. Some might embed it as a core principle, while others might address specific aspects or tools related to informatics that have implications for equity.

The study's practical applications are directed towards curriculum development in nursing informatics programs and faculty professional development initiatives. It suggests focusing efforts on aligning program values with social justice principles and enhancing instructors' capacity to teach this complex topic effectively. The dissertation also proposes several avenues for future research, including exploring perspectives from other levels of education (e.g., undergraduate), practitioners, students themselves, a global perspective, quantitative studies on diversity in nursing informatics, and the development of new theoretical frameworks specific to social justice within this field.

Methodologically, while descriptive phenomenology is well-suited for capturing rich insights into perceptions, the study's findings are limited by its small sample size (five instructors) and qualitative nature. The results reflect the experiences and viewpoints of these particular individuals and may not be generalizable to all nursing informatics educators or programs. Furthermore, as a dissertation published through ProQuest LLC, access is typically restricted to institutional subscribers or those with specific permissions for reproduction.

For faculty in nursing education, this study offers valuable insights into how social justice is currently being approached within DNP-level nursing informatics curricula by some instructors. It highlights the potential role of nurse informaticists as agents of change and underscores the importance of equipping future leaders in this field with both an understanding of health disparities and the technical skills to address them through data-driven solutions.