Role of the nurse in identifying and addressing health inequalities
Intended for healthcare professionals
Evidence and practice    

Role of the nurse in identifying and addressing health inequalities

Agi McFarland Lecturer and programme leader, Master’s in Public Health, Department of Nursing and Community Health, School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland
Emma MacDonald Lecturer and deputy programme leader, Department of Nursing and Community Health, School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland

Why you should read this article:
  • To familiarise yourself with health inequalities and social determinants of health

  • To understand the role of public policies in addressing health inequalities

  • To be aware of how addressing health inequalities can improve health outcomes

This article aims to improve nurses’ knowledge and understanding of health inequalities. Health inequalities are responsible for variation in health outcomes observed across different population groups. Therefore, it is essential that nurses have an understanding of the health inequalities that can occur, and their causes. This knowledge will enable nurses to address the challenges that health inequalities can create in nursing practice. This article raises awareness of this important aspect of care, so that nurses can successfully identify and address the health inequalities that they encounter in their practice, thus enabling a holistic approach to patient care.

Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2019.e11341

Peer review

This article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software

Correspondence

Agi.mcfarland@gcu.ac.uk@AgiMcfarland

Conflict of interest

None declared

McFarland A, MacDonald E (2019) Role of the nurse in identifying and addressing health inequalities. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2019.e11341

Published online: 21 March 2019

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