Nursing and Social Justice-A Scoping Review

BackgroundNursing is historically, ethically, and theoretically mandated to champion social justice.ObjectiveTo investigate how the concept of "social justice" has been explored in nursing research regarding extent, range, and nature.MethodsThe five-stage framework by Arksey and O'Malley was adopted, and JBI and PRISMA guidelines further informed the study. The search strategy comprised three steps: an initial search, a systematic search in several databases, and finally, a reference, citation, and gray literature search. A total of 55 studies meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the analysis.ResultsAlmost all the included studies were authored in the English-speaking world. Most studies were published from 2014 onward, and qualitative methods were by far the most prominent. A total of 13 specific definitions or understandings of social justice were identified. Five themes were identified across the included studies: (1) education, (2) concept, (3) theory, (4) public health and community nursing, and (5) maternal and child health.ConclusionThe literature on social justice and nursing is limited, albeit growing. The conceptualization of social justice within nursing is becoming broader and more nuanced. Only a few studies have focused on specific patient groups or specialties.