First, Seek to Understand: Deconstructing the Concept of Poverty for Nursing Education

Abstract

Poverty, an important social determinant of health, is a multifaceted issue that impacts the health of individuals, families, and communities. People who live in impoverished communities have limited access to many necessary resources. This deficit often results in increased risk for mental illness, chronic disease, higher mortality, and lower life expectancy and greater need for healthcare services. There is a call for nurse educators to provide multiple opportunities throughout curricula for students at all levels to develop competencies to assess and intervene in outcomes impacted by social determinants of health. Doing so requires a perspective of empathy, grounded in cultural humility, to advance health equity and advocate for persons facing challenges, such as those who experience poverty. This article provides an overview of poverty in the context of the social determinants and discusses strategically designed experiential learning experiences, such as simulations and community-academic partnerships. An exemplar of an interprofessional community-academic partnership is provided to illustrate an ongoing successful effort that has fostered a deeper understanding of the lived experience of poverty for students of nursing and other professions.