Amid massive cuts to research funding at NIH, the administration has fired the Director of the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) with a proposal to “consolidate” NINR into a larger entity (see report here ). This action will have a profound impact on nursing science and (ultimately) the health of every American. Seeing nursing rendered “invisible” is nothing new to us, but this particular loss constitutes an act of outright violence on the part of the perpetrators to our profession and every patient we care for. Let me say this very clearly: this action constitutes violence. It shows absolute disregard for human suffering and nursing’s ethical responsibility to end suffering. We will resist this violence in multiple ways and in multiple venues. I can think of no more relevant quote for contemporary nursing than Margaret Atwood’s statement in “The Handmaid’s Tale”:
“They never should have given us uniforms if they didn’t want us to be an army.”
“It is axiomatic for nurses to find ways to decrease suffering, share power, increase compassion, speak the unspeakable, teach moral imagination, and enhance our voice.” (from the description of Georges’ Emancipatory Compassion Theory)
In her scholarly work, Dr. Jane Georges situates herself in the critical-feminist paradigm. She developed the Emancipatory Compassion Theory for Nursing (described on Nursology.net) and is the Dean of the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science at the University of San Diego. The University of San Diego is located on the land of the Kumeyaay people who have lived there for 10,000 years. The Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science supports the Kumeyaay in their journey to economic and health justice.
Thank you Dr. Georges, It needs to be said and heard. As a nurse scholar, I am interested in working with other nurses to resist, “to find ways to decrease suffering, share power, increase compassion, speak the unspeakable, teach moral imagination, and enhance our voice.” I do a lot of community work, teach, and talk with students about this in an ethics class for graduate nurses. What other actions – is there policy work I can support? Again thank you for your advocacy and scholarship.
I witnessed this struggle personally at the University of Washington School of Nursing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was not easy to birth NINR. (In fact, most labor and delivery nurses I know would describe it as a “tough” delivery.) My mentors paid a high price to establish NINR, and I will not break faith with them. We WILL bring NINR back and not allow it to disappear down some “memory hole.” It will take time and effort. For now, let’s care for ourselves and our nurse friends with compassion. Let’s tell the story of NINR and its accomplishments. Nurses’ narratives are powerful- they save lives everyday. Let’s keep the NINR narrative alive in our classrooms and in our hearts.
With warm regards, Jane
Thank you Dr. Georges, It needs to be said and heard. As a nurse scholar, I am interested in working with other nurses to resist, “to find ways to decrease suffering, share power, increase compassion, speak the unspeakable, teach moral imagination, and enhance our voice.” I do a lot of community work, teach, and talk with students about this in an ethics class for graduate nurses. What other actions – is there policy work I can support? Again thank you for your advocacy and scholarship.
Dear Robin, it’s so good to hear from you! I am taking comfort these days in the work of Anne Lamott, who emphasizes that “the resistance will not be rushed.” Here is a video a colleague shared with me from Anne which calls upon us “to keep the faith.” It’s only a minute and a half long, but well worth watching:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/opinions/anne-lamott-offers-advice-for-the-trump-years-opinion/2025/02/19/23f925ec-beb3-419b-be31-331a44506fde_video.html
I often remind my students that NINR was not “birthed” overnight. It was the long term result of years of struggle by nurse scholars who saw the value of nurses’ ways of knowing. It began as a Center and finally achieved full status as an NIH Institute in 1993. We should all share this history with each other and our students at: https://www.ninr.nih.gov/milestones-in-ninr-history#:~:text=DHHS%20Secretary%20Donna%20Shalala%20signs,of%20Nursing%20Research%20(NINR).
I witnessed this struggle personally at the University of Washington School of Nursing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was not easy to birth NINR. (In fact, most labor and delivery nurses I know would describe it as a “tough” delivery.) My mentors paid a high price to establish NINR, and I will not break faith with them. We WILL bring NINR back and not allow it to disappear down some “memory hole.” It will take time and effort. For now, let’s care for ourselves and our nurse friends with compassion. Let’s tell the story of NINR and its accomplishments. Nurses’ narratives are powerful- they save lives everyday. Let’s keep the NINR narrative alive in our classrooms and in our hearts.
With warm regards, Jane
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