Examining the potencial of the nurse practitioners from a critical social justice perspective

"Nurse practicioners are increaseingly called on to provide high-quality health-care particularly for people who face significant barriers to accessing services. Although discourses of social justice have come relatively common in nursing and health services literature, critical analyses of how NP roles articulate with social justice issues have received less atention. In this study, we examine the role of NPs from a critical social justice perpective. A critical social justice lens raises morally significant questions, for example, why certain individuals and groups bear a disproportionate burden of illness and suffering; what social conditions contribute to disparities in health and social status; and what social mandate NPs ought to develop in response to these realities. In our analyses, we draw on lessons learned from the inicial Canadian experience with introduction of NPs in the 1970s to consider the reneview and burgeoning interest in NPs Canada, Australia and elsewhere. As we argue, a critical social justice perspective (in adition to the biomedical foci of NP practice) will be essential to sustaining long-term, socially responsive NP roles and achieving greater equity in health and in health-care."

Browne, A.; Tarlier, D.