Nurses and Political Action: The Legacy of Sexism

Abstract

The 1970's witnessed a reawakening of the political consciousness of nurses. Not since the struggle for registration at the turn of the century has political action assumed so high a priority on the agenda of organized nursing groups. Fuelled by social and political forces such as the women's movement and the shift from entrepreneurial to political power in Canadian health services, organized nursing associations in Canada have begun to define themselves as political pressure or interest groups having a direct, continuous, and active role in influencing health policy. The problem for most organized nursing groups in Canada is that their views on policy matters have rarely been heard and found plausible, much less accepted. The women's movement has helped to bring into sharp focus some of the fundamental causes. Most nurses are women and the cultural conditioning and opportunities of women have been such to effectively exclude them from the corridors of power in our society.