Mary T Boylston
Title: Second degree BSN students preconceived attitudes toward, the homeless, marginalized, and impoverished: A pilot study
Biography
Biography: Mary T Boylston
Abstract
The current economic climate of the United States has contributed to the crisis in health care delivery services. As a result, an increasing number of individuals present as indigent and vulnerable. Currently, there are 50.7 million uninsured Americans with literature clearly reflecting an association between poverty and ill health. With a number of economic barriers to health care, it has been suggested health care providers’ attitudes and subtle prejudices have also contributed to access. These preconceived negative attitudes can shame and embarrass vulnerable, homeless, immigrant, and impoverished individuals from attempting to access care. This research attempted to identify preconceived attitudes that second degree baccalaureate nursing students possess prior to clinical exposure to indigent and immigrant populations through qualitative and quantitative investigative methods. Senior level community health students preparing to deliver health care at a suburban homeless day shelter were asked to describe their experiences and opinions relative to indigent persons before and after their actual contact with this population. Collected data suggest there are subtle stereotyping and negative attitudes regarding the plight of overtly impoverished individuals before rendering care. After the eight-hour clinical experience with the a fore mentioned population, attitudes toward the vulnerable slightly improved suggesting clinical and didactic exposure to the plight of impoverished populations may assist to sensitize student nurses to exude compassion through a holistic therapeutic nurse-client relationship.