Contributor: Jasmine Perkins

Social media platforms connect people globally and have become a meeting space for expressive dialogue among nurses and healthcare professionals. A recent post in a nursing group, “Keep the politics out of nursing,” prompted me to question whether nursing and politics can be kept separate. I’ll answer this later, but first, what is politics? Politics are the collective actions that groups take to organize, manage, and coordinate resources and maintain power (Dawes & Gonzalez, 2023). What exactly does this have to do with nursing? To truly understand the connection between nursing and politics, it’s essential to recognize that nurses are everywhere. Nursing is an art and a science; it’s an action and a noun. Caring is the core of nursing, and the reality is that policies and laws impact who, what, when, and how we care for others. When nurses provide person-centered care, we commit to the whole person, not the illness, but the mind, body, and spirit.

In Spring 2024, I became an Albert Schweitzer Fellow, and at the time, I couldn’t have imagined how much I would learn or the impact my project would have. Over the year, I committed to learning, developing, and embracing the unknown while navigating uncertainty. With support from academic, public health, and site mentors, I empowered vulnerable people and built healthier communities through a community-centered project that aimed to increase the use of primary and social care services among East African Refugees. After leading a community forum, it was clear that community members were facing real-life challenges that may be easily overlooked by others who are not in their shoes. “I don’t have enough money to cover my rent; I don’t have much food left; I need my blood pressure medicine. I don’t have enough diapers, I want to graduate from high school so I can make a better life for my kids”. Trying to stay healthy while working minimum-wage jobs with no benefits, limited access to transportation, nutritious food, and inadequate health insurance is challenging. Health is more than just visiting the doctor’s office; it’s the systems we have to navigate and the circumstances we face every day. The air we breathe, the neighborhoods we live in, our access to high-quality education, safe workspaces, and nutritious foods all affect our health.

Motivated by the conversations we had during home visits, we began reaching out to community partners to access resources and assisting families with applications for housing, health insurance, and food assistance programs. Initially, we were making progress, but shortly thereafter, we encountered barriers and challenges, and the program’s eligibility criteria changed. This was frustrating, but it taught me a valuable lesson; just because the door is closed, doesn’t mean it’s locked. It’s not always what you know, but how far you are willing to go to know someone. These programs were established as safety nets to assist those in need. New laws, funding cuts, and tariff wars are dismantling lifeline resources, leaving millions of individuals, families, and communities vulnerable to food insecurity, homelessness, and poor health. Nurses will see and feel firsthand the detrimental effects.

As our political climate continues to evolve, it is crucial to examine how policies and practices are shaping our world. Emancipatory knowing is “the human capacity to be aware of and critically reflect on the social, cultural, and political status quo and to figure out how and why it came to be that way” (Chinn, P., 2017, p.143). The changes happening right before our eyes will affect the generations to come; us, our children, and our children’s children. Deportation affects everyone. The doors of clinics are closing, and many are fearful of seeking healthcare services because they are afraid of deportation. When they do come, they are gravely ill and die alone. Imagine not being with your loved one when they take their last breath.

These experiences raised my awareness and understanding of how politics, policies, and laws impact health. New laws that affect people’s lives are being drafted and voted on daily through the midnight hours. Think twice before documenting that a patient is non-compliant. Nurses and those in training reflect on and ask questions about how a person’s health deteriorates or worsens. Did they have the knowledge, capacity, and resources to care for themselves? As I learned from servant leader Pancho Arguelles, people aren’t the problem, but the systems are designed to perpetuate health inequities.

Politics and nursing are inseparable. Regardless of our view, we are all human. We are all connected. We all deserve to be healthy and flourish. To make change, nurses must reflect on federal, state, local, and institutional practices and policies that drive health inequities (Lindell, D., & Chinn, P., 2024). The nursing workforce is 5 million strong, and our role extends far beyond the bedside. We pledged to abstain from harmful or mischievous acts and to dedicate ourselves to human welfare. If we want change, we must shift our individualist mindsets, prioritize humanization, activate our moral compasses, and take collective action. Our lives and future depend on it!

References

Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Houston Galveston. (n.d.). Albert Schweitzer Fellowship Houston Galveston – Training the next generation of health professionals to serve vulnerable communities. Retrieved July 19, 2025, from https://www.asfhg.org/

Argüelles Paz y Puente, F. (n.d.). Francisco Arguellez. In Popular Education Liberates. Retrieved July 19, 2025, from https://www.popedliberates.org/francisco-arguellez

Chinn, P. (2017). Critical Theory and Emancipatory Knowing in Butts, J. & Rich, K., Philosophies and theories for advanced nursing practice (3rd ed., pp. 143-162). Jones & Bartlett Learning

Dawes, D., & Gonzalez, J. (2023). The politics of population health. The Milbank Quarterly, 101(S1), 224–241. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0009.12603

Fam Houston. (n.d.). FAM Houston – Working for justice by building empowered community among refugees, immigrants, and local Houstonians. Retrieved July 19, 2025, from https://www.famhoustontx.org/

Lindell, D. & Chinn, P. (2024, January 19). Emancipatory and sociopolitical knowing. https://nursology.net/patterns-of-knowing-in-nursing/emancipatory-knowing/

About Jasmine Perkins

Jasmine Perkins, MSN, RN, is a nurse educator and advocate who believes healthcare is a human right. Whether she is in the classroom, hospital, or the community, person-centered care and respect for human dignity are always the foundation of her work. She highlights her experiences of emancipatory and socio-political knowing and seeks to address unmet health needs through research and program development. She is pursuing a PhD in Nursing Science at Texas Woman’s University and is committed to developing global nursing leaders.