Potential influence of nurses' implicit racial bias on maternal mortality

• Published in: Public health Nursing Vol. 40; no. 5; pp. 773 - 781
• Main Authors: Rattan, Jesse, Bartlett, T Robin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-09-2023
• Subjects: Bias; Black people; Childbirth & labor; Female; Health Personnel; Healthcare Disparities; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Literature reviews; Maternal & child health; Maternal Mortality; Medical personnel; Minority & ethnic groups; Mortality; Native Americans; Native North Americans; Neonates; Nurses; Perinatal care; Pregnancy; Quality of care; Racial discrimination; Racism; United States - epidemiology; White; Womens health; United States; United States > US; disparities; perinatal care; racism; nurses; maternal mortality; implicit racial bias
• ISSN: 0737-1209; 1525-1446; 1525-1446
• DOI: 10.1111/phn.13201

Stark disparities persist in maternal mortality and perinatal outcomes for Black and other birthing people of color, such as Native Americans, and their newborns compared to White people in the United States. An increasing body of research describes the phenomenon of implicit racial bias among providers and how it may affect communication, treatment decisions, the patient care experience, and health outcomes. This synthesis of literature reviews and distills current research on the presence and influence of implicit racial bias among nurses as it may relate to maternal and pregnancy-related care and outcomes. In this paper, we also summarize what is known about implicit racial bias among other types of healthcare providers and interventions that can mitigate its effects, identify a gap in research, and recommend next steps for nurses and nurse researchers.