Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Several factors predispose nursing to being regarded as an oppressed profession. A majority of nurses are female; the role of the nurse is often seen as being under the direction of physician’s orders; and the nature of nurses’ clinical practice is seen as task driven. We propose that nursing can be liberated from this image of oppression by transforming nursing education to empower nurses to embrace the fullness of their practice of caring: Providing all human beings with dignity and valuing the care they provide as equally vital to the human condition as the focus on curing is to their physician counterparts. Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed proposes an educational model in which the teacher embraces the authentic thinking required of students in order to fully grasp their role, respecting what each student brings with them and recognizing the value of that knowledge. Trust must be built at every level of health care, beginning with nurses and their educators engaging in relationships rooted in communication, connection, and the ability to engage in productive dialogue. Should students and educators in nursing programs embrace the words of Freire, a transformation can take place in the health-care system. Nurses and nursing students will no longer carry the weight of oppression with them into the workforce.