Decolonizing nursing for health equity: A scoping review

The recent push to "decolonize nursing" has become a critical movement to address institutional racism, but the term has circulated through nursing circles enough to risk becoming a buzzword.

This article clarifies "decolonizing nursing" by addressing the following questions: (a) How has "decolonizing nursing" been discussed in nursing research? (b) What specific projects have been implemented to decolonize nursing? (c) How has decolonizing nursing been related to health equity?

We conducted a scoping review and searched CINAHL, PubMed, and PsycINFO databases. A total of N = 56 records were included.

"Decolonization" has referred to a range of ideas related to resisting Western ideals, legitimizing Indigenous knowledge, and repatriating land and territory especially to Indigenous and dispossessed communities. Few empirical studies have examined the relationship between decolonization or colonialism and specific health outcomes.

Decolonization differs from other social justice initiatives. To clarify what decolonizing nursing means, researchers can engage with historical, interdisciplinary, and community-based participatory research. In turn, nursing research will understand colonialism's historical context, provide evidence that supports policies that protect Indigenous territory, and design clinical interventions that promote health equity for dispossessed populations.