Health Equity: A Call to Action for Nurses

Page reviewed and updated: January 2023
 

As nurses, we have long considered the social determinants of health (SDOH)—economic stability, education, social and community context, health and health care, and neighborhood and built environment. Even before “SDOH” became part of the vernacular, we knew that in order to achieve success in individual health, care must include incorporating needs at the community level.

Equal access to care and resources is not the same as health equity. Fairness involves looking at individual and community needs to produce similar outcomes. Offering appropriate accommodations and removal of barriers is essential. As nurses, we have a responsibility to be models and mentors for health equity. The first step is becoming informed and aware of disparities; the next step is to use our voices and actions to make change.
 

 

NURSING POCKET CARDS

Cross-Cultural Nursing Considerations [Pocket Card]
Lippincott NursingCenter

Affirming Care for LGBTQIA+ Patients [Pocket Card]
Lippincott NursingCenter
 

FROM OUR JOURNALS, BLOGS, & MORE

Incorporating a Health Equity Lens Into Surveillance Information Systems: Opportunities and Challenges
Journal of Public Health Management & Practice, January/February 2023

Professional Identity in Nursing: Adopting a Systems Approach Regarding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Nursing Education Perspectives, January/February 2023

Social Needs Data to Support Attaining Health Equity
Rehabilitation Nursing Journal, November/December 2022

Who Is Your “We”?: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and Newly Licensed Nurses
Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, November/December 2022

Policy advocacy and health equity: Implications for advanced practice nurses
The Nurse Practitioner, September 2022

NCPD The Future of Nursing: Application of Health Equity in Orthopaedics
Orthopaedic Nursing, March/April 2022

Putting diversity, equity, and inclusion into practice
Nursing made Incredibly Easy!, January/February 2022

[PODCAST] Influencing Policy & Leading Health Equity: A Conversation with Susan C. Reinhard, RN, PhD, FAAN
Lippincott NursingCenter, 2021
 

Equitable, Best Care…Everywhere!
Lippincott NursingCenter, November 2021

NCPD An Introduction to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Nursing made Incredibly Easy!, September/October 2021

Identifying and Tackling Racial Disparities in Healthcare
Nursing2021, September 2021

How a Large Health System Developed a Health Equity Focus
Quality Management in Health Care, July/September 2021

Innovation: The Future of Nursing and the Key to Health Equity
Lippincott NursingCenter, June 2021

NCPD Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Intersection with Quality Improvement
Nursing Management, May 2021

Addressing the Social Determinants of Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Ensuring Equity, Quality, and Sustainability
Family & Community Health, April/June 2021

NCPD The Future of Nursing: Creating A Culture of Equity
Journal of Christian Nursing, January/March 2021

The Professional Case Manager and Social Justice, Inclusion, and Equity: A Time for Reflection and Action
Professional Case Management, November/December 2020

COVID-19 and Black America: The Intersection of Health Equity and the NP Workforce
The Nurse Practitioner, October 2020

Racial Disparities in Healthcare and Beyond
Lippincott NursingCenter, June 2020

Achieving Health Equity Through Use of Information Technology to Address Social Determinants of Health
CIN: Computers, Informatics, Nursing, March 2020

More Resources

• Best Care Everywhere
  At Wolters Kluwer, our belief is that all people – everywhere – should have access to the best care possible. Supporting health equity through innovative thinking and solutions will help chart the course ahead.  

• Guiding Healthcare Language Towards Inclusivity and Equity 
  With COVID-19 most severely impacting communities of color, the CDC now calls racism and the healthcare inequity it causes a public health threat. But what is less recognized is that the lack of healthcare equity often stems from biases deeply embedded in the very language of healthcare.