How Activism Features in the Career Lives of Four Generations of Canadian Nurses

• Published in: Policy, politics & nursing practice Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 218 - 230
• Main Authors: MacDonnell, Judith A., Buck-McFadyen, Ellen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01-11-2016; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Activism; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Canada; Career Choice; Critical incidents; Feminism; Generation X; Graduate students; Humans; Intergenerational Relations; Interpersonal Relations; Interprofessional Relations; Life history; Meaning; Middle Aged; Millennials; Nurse's Role; Nurses; Nursing; Philosophy, Nursing; Politics; Sampling; Social Change; Social justice; Workplaces; Young Adult; political action; generation; health-care reform; gender; advocacy; activism
• ISSN: 1527-1544; 1552-7468
• DOI: 10.1177/1527154416688669

Recent nursing research using a critical feminist lens challenges the prevailing view of political inertia in nursing. This comparative life history study using a critical feminist lens explores the relevance of activism with four generations of Canadian nurses. Purposeful sampling of Ontario nurses resulted in 40 participants who were diverse in terms of generation, practice setting, and activist practice. Interviews and focus groups were completed with the sample of Ontario registered nurses or undergraduate and graduate nursing students: 8 Generation X, 9 Generation Y (Millennials), 20 Boomers, and 3 Overboomers. Factors such as professional norms and personal and organizational supports shaped contradictory nursing activist identities, practices, and impacts. Gendered norms, organizational dynamics, and the political landscape influenced the meanings nurses attributed to critical incidents and influences that prompted activism inside and outside the workplace, shaping the transformative potential of nursing. Despite its limitations, the study has implications for creating professional and organizational supports for consideration of health politics and policy, and spaces for dialogue to support practice and research aligned with social justice goals.