Documentary explores gatekeeping, racism in nursing

AONL member Katie-Boston Leary, PhD, RN, is one of the nurses featured in a documentary exploring racism in nursing. The American Nurses Association’s senior vice president of equity and engagement participated in a panel following a screening in Baltimore. She said many LPNs, who are disproportionately nurses of color, stay in their roles because RN education programs often expect students not to work full-time. Those who can’t forgo income work nights and are tired in class. Educators see them as disengaged and weed them out, the documentary notes. Pointing to a survey showing 92% of Black nurses believe racism in nursing exists, but only 29% of white nurses, she urged the profession to develop a “system of allies.” The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supported the film. (MedPage Today article, 9/20/24)