Social Justice in Nursing: A Critical Interpretive Synthesis

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Social Sciences
• Public Health

Background:

• Social justice is a core nursing value but lacks clear definition and theoretical grounding.
• Existing conceptualizations are often critiqued for insufficient critical orientation, limiting nursing action.
• Nurses need a cohesive understanding of social justice to effectively address health inequities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and synthesize conceptualizations of social justice in nursing literature.
• To apply critical theoretical approaches for a re-conceptualized definition of social justice.
• To guide nursing theory, research, and practice with an improved understanding of social justice.

Main Methods:

• Critical interpretive synthesis of nursing literature.
• Searched CINAHL and Medline (Ovid) databases for 'nursing,' 'social justice,' and 'equity' keywords.
• Analyzed 216 retained references through a critical social theory lens.

Main Results:

• Social justice and equity concepts are frequently conflated in nursing literature.
• Dominant views define social justice as distributive justice and fairness.
• A critical lens reveals the need for re-conceptualization to enhance clarity and support nursing action.

Conclusions:

• Re-conceptualizing social justice is essential for nursing.
• Proposed definition: Social justice is a process of recognizing and remediating inequities at individual and structural levels towards a state of equity.
• This revised definition provides conceptual clarity and practical guidance for nurses.