By Colleen Varcoe
At this moment in a history of intense racism and racist violence, Neda Hamzavi’s scholarship promises to offer direction for nursing to tackle the Eurocentrism that dominates nursing. Neda, a master’s student in the MSN/MPH program in the School of Nursing felt the impact of that dominance as soon as she entered the school. “It was a visceral reaction. I felt shocked and out of place. As soon as I got off the elevator, I saw the pictures of all the past directors of the School of Nursing – there are no Indigenous people or visible minorities that have had this role. There is a display of dolls representing nursing over time, but of 18 dolls, only three are of Indigenous or visible minority nurses, with the Florence Nightingale doll dominating. It really makes you question your sense of belonging in the academy.”
As a nurse with experience in both Emergency settings and remote nursing outposts serving Indigenous communities, aware of Canada’s colonial relationship historically and today with Indigenous peoples, Neda wondered why there was no expression of the nursing role in the horrific impacts of institutions such as “Indian Hospitals” and tuberculosis sanitoriums. Neda’s sense of the erasure of history and of the lived realities of people designated as visible minorities, and Indigenous peoples deepened as she began course work. “There was so little diversity–in our faculty, in who was cited as nursing knowers and keepers of knowledge – there were minimal non-White scholars among our readings. I realized that it was the same pattern I experienced in practice–few Indigenous or visible minorities held leadership positions. What is it that prevents these identities from obtaining leadership roles in nursing? I wondered how other students, particularly those without my privileges–being raised and educated in Canada, speaking English fluently–could navigate these spaces”.
Neda’s deep discomfort shifted her entire plan for her thesis. “When I first met my supervisor, Dr. Helen Brown, I thought I would study moral distress. I had experienced so much moral distress in practice, and I had seen how Eurocentrism operated in practice, but here was the same pattern in the academy. I wanted to understand the experiences of other graduate students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of colour. Those students come seeking to take leadership roles in nursing and are pivotal to meaningful change. Do they see anyone they can relate to? Where do they get support? How does the dominance of Whiteness shape their work and futures? Has anyone else noticed?”
Neda’s work promises to provide the very guidance the School of Nursing needs as we seek to meaningfully tackle racism. While the dominance of Eurocentric norms and values in nursing has long been critiqued, there is little study of graduate students. Her master’s thesis focuses on the experiences of Indigenous and visible minority students, and as a member of the newly formed Antiracism Task Force in the School of Nursing, Neda is committed to supporting foundational and widespread change. “I hope my work will help to create spaces that actually represent our student population and the patient population we serve. I hope that practices will change so that students are not taught that “White” is the norm.”
Undertaking this work isn’t easy. “None of what I want to study and write about have I been prepped for in my courses. I have had to learn about a decolonizing lens, about narrative research, about antiracism on my own. And, there are few faculty members concerned with racism. Who is there to support students such as myself and who is there to pass the torch to? My worry is that when the current attention to racism dies down, there will be nothing.”
Neda’s passion and commitment sustain her and push her to a constant awareness of her privilege and responsibilities. “I see the suffering of others, and I want to take some of the burden. My existence in Canada is a colonial existence, so it is my responsibility to not only understand colonial history but actively work to dismantle its damaging legacy.”
The magnitude of change required is clear to Neda. From the lack of diversity in practice leadership to the same pattern in academia, Neda points to the same issues in editorial boards, funding bodies, and other institutions shaping nursing and scholarship. “Tackling racism, discrimination and stigma will cause quite a bit of discomfort; some people will be offended and hurt. But I don’t want to beat around the bush. There has been a whole world of harm and hurt borne by Indigenous peoples and people of colour.
