Upholding Social Justice in Nursing: The Value of Educational Experiences

Social justice is a fundamental tenet to the profession of nursing. Embedded within the notion of upholding social justice is that of addressing the social determinants of health (SDH). Yet, little is known about nursing students’ views of whether they feel competent, or confident, to address the SDH, after partaking in an educational experience offering exposure to the SDH. The purpose of this research was to explore the value of clinical educational experiences in expanding nursing students’ understanding of—and perceived ability to address—the SDH, and in so doing to uphold their social justice mandate. An integrated mixed research synthesis of 33 studies was conducted. Four themes arose from thematic analysis: cognitive learning, experiential learning, reflexive learning, and praxis learning. Implications are discussed for nursing education and research to foster praxis learning, as transformational learning, in order to promote nursing students’ perceived ability to address the SDH.