Nursing a Radical Imagination: Moving from Theory and History to Action and Alternate Futures

Examining the historical context of healthcare whilst focusing on building a more just, equitable world, this book proposes a radical imagination for nursing and presents possibilities for speculative futures embracing queer, feminist, posthuman, and abolitionist frames.

Bringing together radical and emancipatory perspectives from an international selection of authors, this book reflects on the realities created by the COVID-19 pandemic, recognizing that our situation is not new but the result of ongoing hegemonies and injustices. The authors attend to the history of nursing and related institutions, examining the assumptions, ideologies, and discourses that shape the discipline and its place within healthcare. They explore the impact of this context on contemporary nursing and look at alternative visions for the future. The final section specifically focuses on ways that we can move forward.

Envisioning new possibilities for nursing, this innovative volume is a vital resource for practitioners, scholars and students keen to promote social justice within and without nursing. It is an important contribution to nursing theory, philosophy and history.

Jessica Dillard-Wright is an Assistant Professor at University of Massachusetts Amherst Elaine Marie College of Nursing. She/they is also the 21-22 University of California Irvine Center for Nursing Philosophy Fellow.

Jane Hopkins-Walsh is a primary care pediatric nurse practitioner at Boston Children’s Hospital, USA, and a PhD candidate at Boston College Connell School of Nursing.

Brandon Brown is a bedside nurse, teacher, clinical assistant professor and doctor of education student at the University of Vermont in Burlington, USA.