Driving toward a culture shift: Case studies of social mission in nursing education

Nursing schools need to provide students with the appropriate tools to develop competencies and resources to actualize moral courage to advance health equity and center social mission.

The purpose of this study was to describe six nursing programs that exemplify a variety of ways that social mission goals are pursued in different contexts.

Using a case study approach, we selected nursing schools that excelled in at least one of the following social mission domains: education program, community engagement, governance, diversity & inclusion, institutional culture & climate and research. We conducted video interviews with the administration, faculty and students.

Main themes were: (1) central university/college commitment; (2) allocation of school resources; (3) faculty buy-in; (4) community partnerships; and, (5) an institutional culture of inclusion.

While each school approaches social mission differently, there are commonalities across cases including a number of necessary factors for schools to advance their social mission goals.