Toward a Feminist Model for the Political Empowerment of Nurses

zy Toward a Feminist Model for the Political Empowerment of Nurses Diana J. Mason, Barbara A. Backer, C. Alicia Georges z zyxwvuts zyxw zyx zyxwvutsrqpo Shifts in power within the nursingp-ofession and the h a l t h care system raise questions as to how nursing will develop and use its power. As a modelforpolitical action, empowerment involves th development of three dimensions; (a) raising the conscious of sociopolitical realities; (b) positive self-esteem; and (c) political skills needed to negotiate and change the health care system. This paper discusses these dimensions as they relate to nurses within a feminist context. * * * tudies of the shortage of nurses repeatedly have called for increasing the economic rewards for nurses, changing working conditions, and increasing nursing’s voice in the development of health policy (Secretary’s Commission on Nursing, 1988). Evidence that nurses’ power is increasing can be seen in the willingness of nurses to strike and use other means to bring about the changes in thework place that have been oppressivefor decades (“Nurses gained...”, 1989; Denver nurses...”, 1988). In addition, nurses have demonstrated that they have been able to mobilize their political strength to elect candidates to office who will ensure that nurses are not only heard in policy debates but are in leadership positions to develop and change policy. In San Francisco, a nurse was appointed deputy mayor for health and human services after nurses played a major role in electing Mayor Art Agnos. Although nurses’ power in the health care system seems to be increasing, there is evidence that a simultaneousshift in power is occurring within nursing itself. The recent change in bylaws of the American Nurses’ Association to include four staff nurse positions on its board of directors seems to herald awillingnessto increase the voice and power of staffnurseswithin the profession. This bylaw amendment arose from an increasing concern regarding the lack of representation of staff nurses in the organization’s structure. Although “...the delegates also voted to ‘ensure’ that staff nurses are liberally appointed to national task forces and committees” (“Delegatesremodel...”, 1989, p. 1228), S 72 much of the debate in the 1989 ANA House of Delegates centered on who would be included in the definition of a s-nurse. As one staff nurse commented, “Everyonewants to be a staff nurse now.” Severalquestions may be raised regarding how nursing is, and will be, relating to the change in power inside and outside the profession. First, as nurses increase their power within the health care system, will they be willing to engage in a critique’of that system which has its grounding in a hierarchical model of inequality (Heide, 1982), or will nursing choose to perpetuate a male dominated system of power rather than develope alternative models (Ashley, 1976)? Second, will nursing’s traditional power holders administrators and educators - be willing to share power with staff nurses as equal partners in the work place and professional organizations, and will staff nurses want to adopt and support a power-sharing model which encourages equal collaboration among all in nursing? This paper makes two assumptions: (a) nurses collectively and individually have more potential power than currently is manifest; and (b) increasing nurses’ political awareness and skills is necessary to bring about changes in a troubled health care system. A feminist model of empowerment for increasingthe power and political involvement of nurses will be defined and explored in this paper. It will be shown that this model is consistent with espoused nursing values and hence appropriate to use in altering the traditional, paternalistic health care systemwhich negates thesevalues (Allen, 1984; Mauksch & Cambell, 1985; Reverby, 1987). Empowerment Defined zyxw Empowerment as used in this discussion is defined as the enabling of individuals and groups to participate in actions and decision-making within a context that supports an Diana J. Mason. R.N., C, Ph.D., ups//on, is Associate Director of Nursing for Education and Research, Beth Israel Medical Center, New Yorkcity. BarbaraA. Backer, R.N., D.S.W.. UpsilOn. is Associate Professor, Division of Nursing, Lehman college, Bronx, New York. c. Alicia ceorges, R.N.. c.. M.A. is Lecturer, DiVlSiOn of Nursing, Lehrnancollege. Bronx. New York. Correspondenceto 5r. Mason, 455 W. 44th Street, # 22, New York, NY 10036. Accepted for publication October 7,1990. zyxwvu I I IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship zyxwvutsrqponm Toward a Feminist Model for the Political Empowerment of Nurses equitable distribution of power. Empowerment requires a commitment to connection between self and others, enabling individuals or groups to recognize their own strengths, resources and abilities to make changes in their personal and public lives. It is a process of confirming one’s self and/ or one’s group. As a model for political action, empowerment involves the development of three dimensions: (a) raising consciousness of the socio-political realities of a nurse’s world; (b) strong and positive self-esteem;and (c) the political skills needed to negotiate and change the health care system. Although these dimensions will be discussed as separate entities, it is important to recognize that they are interdependent and overlapping, suggesting an interactive rather than a linear development. Although empowerment has been discussed from a variety ofperspectivesas both aleadership and liberating strategy (Beck, 1983; Freire, 1970), the concept is consistent with current feminist theory. Miller (1976; 1982) has noted that men and women often relate differently to power, with the dominant model demonstrating power-grabbing and wielding it over others, while the feminist model is one of power-sharing. Power-grabbing involves holding power close to oneself and enhancing one’s own relative power by taking power from others. It is “power over” someone (Rowan, 1984). Power-sharing, on the other hand, connotes sharing one’s influence with others. A model of powersharing may be more beneficial to women’s and nursing’s development than power-grabbing in that it promotes equality: ...our future survival is predicated upon our ability to relate Additionally, the marked disparity in the health status of whites and blacks in this country, such as in higher infant mortality rates among people of color, further illustrates the relatively powerless position of non-whites in this society (Funkhouser & Moser, 1990). Nursing’s own record of removing racial, ethnic and class inequalities from its midst is not particularly laudatory (Carnegie, 1986). While the nursing shortage is enabling nurses to secure better wages and benefits and, it is hoped, reforms in nurse-physician practice arrangements, the nurse’s aide and particularly home health aides-predominantly poor women of color-are gaining little economic status (Surpin, 1988). Although these co-workers are providing nursing care, the profession has shown little interest in advocating an end to their exploitation. Similarly, many nurses have failed to recognize the inequality that ‘‘entryinto practice” represents, particularly to people of color who have not had the same access to and preparation for baccalaureate education as have whites. There is adifference between facilitatingeducational mobility and creating barriers to higher paying positions. It is possible to have a progression of education without oppression-but only if nurses are willing to reject the dominant hierarchical models of professions. While many nurses have argued that establishing a minimum of a baccalaureate degree for entry into professional nursing is the key to power for the profession, the National Black Nurses Association continues to oppose the B.S.N. for entry because of the potential to exclude people of color from the benefits and status of “professional” nursing. The issue is a complex one that is at the heart of nursing’s dilemma of how to be empowered within the health care system and in society without perpetuating inequality. Should nursing adopt the practices of its oppressors or should it challenge the traditional notions of what defines a profession (Allen, 1984; Melosh, 1982)? How do nurses obtain enough power for their voices to be heard and respected without undermining the stories they have to tell? Nurses’ political effectiveness has been hampered not only by the profession perpetuating, with or without intent, this societal matrix of inequality, but also by some nurses holding onto outdated views of political behavior as “unfemininel’andunprofessional (Ashley,1980;Allen,1984). Such judgments reflect an underlying historical prejudice that society has had regarding women and politics. Just as Western philosophers held that rationality was the escape from the feminine, political philosophers believed that men by nature were political and women were not; men were rational, women were emotional. Thus women were not capable of effective politics (Lloyd, 1984). Sapiro (1983) argues that this conflict between the rules and values of the political world versus the personal world have left women in a marginal state in politics. Marginality is the state of living in two different worlds simultaneously; in this case one is regarded by prevailing standards as superior to the other. Full realization of one’s role in one world portends defeat in the other, causing role conflict, anxiety and anger (Stonequist, 1937; Githens & Prestage, zyxwvutsrq within equality. As women, we must root out internalized patterns of oppression within ourselves if we are to move beyond the most superficial aspects of social change. Nowwe must recognize differences amongwomen who are our equals, neither inferior nor superior, and devise ways to use each others’ difference to enrich our visionsand ourjoint struggles (Lorde, 1984, P. 122). zyxwvu A feminist model of empowerment for political action includes respect for others and for self, power-sharing, and equality. Feminist perspectives and equality must also be included as part of the socio-political context for the consciousness-raisingdimension of nurses’ empowerment. Raising the Consciousness Many have written about the unequal status of nurses in the health care system reflecting society’sbroader problems of gender and class (Ashley, 1976; Reverby, 1987; Muff, 1982). Inequality in the class structure of the health care system mirrors the more general contradictions of social class in society at large. Members of the corporate and upper-middle class dominate the policy-making bodies of North American health-care institutions (Mills, 1951, 1956; Waitzkin, 1983). Class structure may also be seen in the stratification of workers within health-care institutions, a stratification thatvisiblydemonstrates the connections among class, gender and race. The racism and ethnocentrism that are part of the matrix of inequality in the nurses’ world and society must be confronted for empowerment to exist. People of color will comprise one-third of the nation by the end of this decade (American Council on Education, 1988). Currently, they are disproportionately represented in the lowest paid and least powerful positions in the health care system. Volume 23, Number 2, Summer 1991 1977). This state of marginality has become painfully evident for nurses. While nursing embodiesvalues of caring, the system in which most nurses work values economic efficiency and high tech cure. This may be seen in the disparity of status and pay for nurses working in nursing homes as opposed to Ins DltJ:q~,: =.ay# 73 zy zyx Mill&uevitle. Gemaia * zyxwvu zyxw zy Toward a Feminist Model for the Political Empowerment of Nurses intensive care units. For nurses moving through the administrative hierarchy of health care institutions the dilemma becomes whether they can succeed in any way other than by adopting the values of the larger system, submerging their own values in the process. This dilemma demands further discussion by the profession if nursing is to adopt a model of power-sharing and move beyond marginality. Integration, as defined by Sapiro (1983), is the opposite of marginality and provides an alternative for change: When a group is allowed, for the first time, to participate in governing itself and others, its significance-to itself and others-must change. It also changes in what it must know, believe, or do in order to operatein an acceptable manner (p. 28). Treblicot, 1983) suggest there are different sets ofvalues and perspectives about the world than those by which society ostensibly operates. These feminist perspectives speak to the value of women’s voices and portray caring values that often differ from the dominant voice in the systemsof health care and science (Huggins 8c Scalze, 1988; MacPherson, 1983; Meleis, 1985; Vance, Talbott, McBride, Sc Mason, 1985). Benner and Wrubel’s (1989) definition of caring “as a word for being connected and having things matter works well because it fuses thought, feeling and action-knowing and being” (p. 1 ) . Such a definition indeed captures the voice of nursing. The work of these nurses, Gilligan and other feminists provides a foundation to acknowledge the different voice that nursing represents in health care and to use that voice with confidence in challenging the current structure of the health care system. Challenging an existing power structure, however, involves political action within that structure. Klein (1984) asserts that “group consciousness is a critical precondition to political action” (p. 2). As nurses collectively begin to identify their personal and private concerns and translate these as social issues in the political and public arenas, they are beginning their empowerment. Klein’s assertion is consistent with Freire’s thinking about how to mobilize an oppressed people. Group consciousness also requires that nurses understand oppressed group behavior-where the oppressor’s values and behaviors are sought after and adopted. In the debate over membership in the ANA, the New York State Nurses Association quoted the major arguments members gave for an all-R.N. membership: ‘Will a technical nurse be president of our association?’ Emphasizing the difference between the two levels of nursing, [a member] argued that technical nurses ‘need theirown organization and we need our organization.’ (‘VotingBody Postpones Action...”, 1988,p. 5 ) . zy zyxwvu Integration does not require that one adopt the values of the system, but that one value one’s own perspective. This is evident in nursing’s public and professional reaffirmation of caring as its essence in the face of exploding technology and society’sexpectations of cure (Carper, 1979;Watson & Leininger, 1989). Such integration is essential if the prfession is to alter significantly the power structures, values and priorities of the system. Integration is usually difficult for the group and the system. However, if it is successful, things start to look very different. For example, day care no longer is labeled as a ‘fvomen’s issue” when women are integrated into politics, and recent attention to the day care issue by both major political parties suggests that such integration is taking place, albeit slowly. Integration for nurses would mean that pay equity or adequate staffing would be considered societal and patient-care issues rather than nursing issues. Integration then requires that women and nurses value their perspectives: Their ways of knowing, values, beliefs and the work that they do. This is not to reject male views, but rather to put them into proper perspective. Integration requires that nurses develop a positive self-esteem. Development of Positive Selfesteem Recognizing the legitimacy of one’s issues and concerns and understanding their political nature alone will not move nurses to effective political action. Sapiro (1983) argues that political participation requires confidence that one can be self-regulating and control one’s own life. Such confidence connotes empowerment; it requires a degree of self-esteem and a sense of competence that is difficult for oppressed groups to achieve. Friere (1970) notes that oppressed groups are characterized by a selfdeprecation that arises from an internalization of their oppressor’s view of them. Nursing has been described as an oppressed group (Roberts, 1983). Examples of the selfdeprecation arising from nursing’s oppression include nurses who blame nursing and nurses for poor hospital working conditions or nurses who decry higher education in nursing while they enroll in a law or business program. It can be argued that many nurses are likely to be limited in the confidence ofwhich Sapiro speaks, given their gender, society’sinaccurate images of nurses and daily work in a system that fails to sufficiently value and reward the work of nursing. Feminist theorists provide women and society with explanations and analyses of women’s oppression. The theorists also critique the norms and values of current society and explicate new ways ofviewing the world and relating to it and each other. Gilligan (1982) and others (Chodorow, 1978; 74 The elusive promise of power for nurses through “professionalism” is sought here. While there may be other arguments for an all-R.N. association, it is imperative that nurses reflect on the value system that underlies their arguments. Raising the profession’s consciousness regarding oppressed group behavior could collectively enhance self-esteem and transform nursing’s positions and actions on a variety of internal and societal issues. Klein (1984) describes the rise in political consciousness as developing in three stages. The first stage is that of affiliation, or recognition of group membership and shared interests. Unless nursing addresses some of the class, race, ethnic and educational barriers within the profession, this group affiliation is unlikely to be an inclusive one. Women of color have not participated visibly in the women’s movement because it was seen as concentrating on the issues and values of the white middle-class woman (Bandarage, 1986). Nurses of color are unlikely to participate in a “nurses movement” unless it embraces issues and values that truly reflect the diversity of the nursing community. Valuing nursing’s diversity, its voice of caring and the expertise it brings to the health care system can further the development of a positive group identity. The second stage involves the rejection of the tiaditiorial definition of the group’s status in society so that a new group definition can emerge. The new definition provides new z zyx IMAGE: Journal of Nursing Scholarship zyxwvutsrqpon Toward a Feminist Model for the Political Empowerment of Nurses - images that stress positive attributes. These images provide a basis for a sense of group pride and purpose that are essential for cohesiveness to develop. The new group definition will evolve from challenging established definitions that have become comfortable but ethnocentric. To ensure nursing’s group definition is based upon values of equality requires inclusion of nurses of diverse ethnicity, class and gender. As is evident in nursing, traditional roles act as a means of social control. The controls restrain nurses’ expectations for power, privilege and access to self-determination. Klein maintains that these traditional roles keep the dominant groups in positions of advantage and power. Although selfgovernance models have the potential to provide a new group definition for staff nurses, such models do not predominate, in spite of documentation of current practice arrangementsasafactor in the shortage ofnurses (Secretary’s Commission on Nursing, 1988). Collective mobilization often arises from failed expectations as well as from objective conditions. In a study of registered nurses’ commitment to nursing, Corley and Mauksch (1988) noted the nurse “sees herself in an occupational and organizational position in which the freedom, power and support needed to perform her functions is simply not accorded to her” (p. 147). Should nurses try to smooth over the problems related to working conditions or confront the dissonance between their expectations of the job and the actualities of it? Nursing education has been criticized for not preparing nurses for the realities of the work place; however, if nurses are collectively to develope their potential power to change oppressive working conditions and their roles, Klein’sworksuggeststhat this dissonance should be fostered. The third stagein the rise of political consciousnessinvolves the development of a sense of injustice: Personal problems become political demands only when the inability to survive or to attain a decent life is seen as a consequence of social institutions or social inequity rather than of personal failure, and the system is blamed (Klein, 1984, p. 3). There are multiple publications in the nursing literature that speak to the “how-to’s”of political action (Del Bueno, 1986; Mason & Talbott, 1985). Most of these skills are the standard strategies that have been developed under maledominated political systems;for example, how to develop an image of power, building one’s own power and manipulation to achieve one’s end. Although many of these skills may be appropriate, and nurses certainly need to be knowledgeable about the techniques used by the dominant systems to affect change, a feminist model of empowerment suggests that these skills be examined and new and different approaches to political action be developed. For example, a common strategy for ‘’winning”when a committee is making a decision is to lobby individual members before the meeting and negotiate their support. One can then “call the question” before full discussion of the issue is possible. This approach negates the importance of the group’s process and brainstorming that could lead to a more creative and effective alternative. Even those of us who espouse to feminist ideology and models can be found at times to operate almost automaticallywith the traditional models and methods, since feminist approaches have not been given the opportunity for developmentwithin the public sphere. One of the political skills that needs to be developed when working with others in a feminist model is raising questions with one another and exploring alternative methods rather than simply criticizing another’s methods. Developing feminist methods for power and political action within traditional public settings demands tolerance of backsliding and respect for each other’s attempts to develop new methods. Miller (1976) points out, Most of all it is important to sustain the understanding that women do not need to denigrate other women in order to maintain a nonexistent structure of Dominance; therefore women do not need to take on the destructive attributes engendered by that structure. Women need the power to advance their own development, but they do not “need”the power to limit the development of others (p. 117) zyxwvu zyxwvutsr zyxwvu zyxwvu zyxwvuts Nurses must come to recognize that many of the problems they face are embedded in the systems in which they live and work, and cannot be solved by their actions alone. The current shortage of nurses and crisis in the health care systemare situationsripe for making nurses’own professional experiences political; however, this requires that nurses stop using such oppressed behavior as blaming themselves (‘We’re our own worst enemy”) and instead, recognize the group’s legitimacy and strength. Raising nurses’ selfesteem and political consciousness could also lead to a transformation of nursing itself. In a nursing empowerment movement, leadership becomes “...a collective and dynamic process, a complex set of relationships and negotiations rather than a mobilization of parallel but individual actors” (Sachs, 1988,p. 77). Such leadership can provide the stimulus needed to transform not only the health care system, but society’s values in general. Political skills The empowerment of nurses requires that they develop skills for political action; i.e., those skills that will enable them to bring about change and influence decision-making. Volume 23, Number 2, Summer 1991 Wheeler and Chinn (1989) have provided a resource for beginning to explore how a feminist model of power might be actualized. Under their method, a collective approach is usedwith emphasison group process and consensus-building. For example, leadership is rotated constantly within the group and each member is listened to until consensus is reached. While nurse administrators may argue that the multiple crises within the work place do not allow for this time-consuming process, Wheeler and Chinn’s (1989) work suggests that other ways of developing and using power are possible: Taking steps to adapt feminist process in patriarchal institutions can be risky, frightening and discouraging. There are failures,and sometimes groups seem unable to move beyond mere token acts ofworking in ways that are envisioned here. Often the hoped-for benefits and changesthat happen seem completely invisible, only to become visible long after the group has ended (p. 56). Operating from a feminist model is a new way of thinking in the public world. The health care system is productoriented; feminist thinking is process-oriented. The traditional model of decision-making is based on efficiency; the feminist model on group collectivity and equality. The challenge becomes how much we can foster this feminist 13 Toward a Feminist Model for the Political Empowerment of Nurses model and still be in a position to bring feminist values and methods to prevail. Developing alternative methods in small groups in which feminist values can exist will provide a refuge and a mechanism for testing new ways of operating: Experiencing a community, even though it may be a small group,where the ideals can be realized more fully provides a place of centering;of concentrating our energiesin a healing direction; of support for the values that we are seeking to enact; and for exploring more fully what might be possible. Then, when the disappointments of the old world come crashing in, the visions of new possibilities are there, somewhere (Wheeler & Chinn, 1989,p. 56). that require their political action. Political action by nurses requires bold actions based upon visions that reflect both feministviewsof the world and nursing’s commitment to caring. Reverby (1987) notes: ...contemporaryfeminism has provided some nurses with the grounds on which to claim rights from their caring...The demand for the right to care questions deeply held beliefs aboutgenderedrelationsin the health care hierarchy and the structure of the hierarchy itself (p. 10). zyxwvutsrq zyx zyxwvutsrq zyx zyxwvut These small communities can be created within educational and service institutions and professional organizations; feminist values and methods are adopted for decisionmaking and process and equality are paramount. Nursing organizations can do so within their committee structures, for a start. Nursing units within health care institutions can change their methods of decision-making through selfgovernance models that provide for equality and consensus. Nurse educators can do so among themselves and with their students. The groundwork for empowering through education has already begun through a series of conferences and publications on “revolutionizing the curriculum” sponsored by the National League for Nursing (Watson & Leininger, 1989; National League for Nursing, 1989). Developing feminist-based political skills can be an energizing, informing and transforming process for nursing. Conclusion The women’s movement has been a mixed blessing for nursing (Vance et al., 1985). However, recent writings by feminist theorists and researchers suggest that the movement itself is in a new stage of consciousness; one that values women’s voices, ways of knowing and life experiences. This new consciousness holds great potential as an empowering perspective from which nurses can raise their own political consciousness. By identifymg the commonality and connectedness of nurses’ experiences as women and men and as health care workers, nurses can further develop a sense of autonomy and group consciousness that is necessary for empowerment and effective political action. Allen (1985) argues that insight into the internal and external barriers to one becoming an autonomous and responsible being “...changes the world since it renders inapplicable previous social regularities” (p. 63). Through consciousness-raising and empowerment, one accepts no longer the devaluation of nursing, of subservient nurses’ and nurses’ aides roles or of a health care system that values profit before caring. It becomes imperative that nurses recognize the value and legitimacy of their own voices. In addition, the connections must be made between issues related to a nurse’s everyday work and those of society and the world; e.g., understanding the commonalities in circumstances of other health care workers; recognizing and persistent gender race and classbound nature of many of society’s social problems; and seeing the threads that connect nurses’ circumstances to issues of war, peace, homelessness, inferior health care and the poor working conditions of home health aides. Understanding such connections will enable nurses to embrace and mobilize work place, community and legislative agendas 76 Questioning and challenging that hierarchy is a difficult task for even the strongest among us. To do so demands that nurses develop empowerment and a collective identity that will breathe confidence, understanding and boldness into nurses’ political actions, actions that can transform the profession, health care and society. a References Allen, D. (1984). 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Advances inNursingScience,5(7), 21-30. Rowan, G. R. (1984, Spring). Looking for a new model of power. Woman of Power, Issue #I 67-68. DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF NURSING The University of North Carolina at Charlotte ’ 1 Sachs, K. (1988). Gender and grassroots leadership. In A. Bookman & S. Morgen (Eds.), Women and the politics of empowerment (pp. 77-94). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Sapiro, V. (1983). The political integration of women: Roles, socialization and politics. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Secretary’s Commission on Nursing. (1988). E d report. Washington, D.C.: Department of Health and Human Services. Stonequist, E.V. (1937). The margioalman:Astudyinpersonalityaadcultureconflict. New York Charles Scribner’s Sons. Surpin, R. (1988). The current status of the paraprofessional in home care. Caring, 3(4), 49. Treblicot, J. (1983). Mothering:Ensprs on feminist theory. Totowa, NJ: Littlefield Adams Vance, C., Talbott, S., McBride, A. B., & Mason, D. J. (1985). An uneasy alliance: Nursing and the women’s movement. Nursing Outlook,33,281-285. Votingbodypostponesaction onwithdrawalfrom ANA. (1988). Report, 19(6), 1 , 4 5. Waitzkin, H. (1983). The second sickmess: Contradictionsof capitalist health care. New York The Free Press. Watson,J. & Leininger, M. (1989). The caring imperative in education. New York National League for Nursing. Wheeler, C. E. & Chinn, P. L. (1989). Peace and power: A handbook of fe&t process (2nd ed.). New York National League for Nursing. Ph.0 INNmING - Prepares post baccalaureate nurse scholars wth a phlo sophical and scientific foundauon for professional leadership Offered at a dis unguished Jesuit university th its own academic health center Also offered RN/ BSN Completion Program, Master‘sDegrees in seven tracks. For informauon, call DI:Juha Lane, Dean, Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing, at 312 508 3255 Or wnte to Dr Iane at the address below Application and nominations are invited for the position of Dean of the College of Nursing at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The College comprises thirty-four faculty and approximately 500 undergraduate and 100 graduate students in NLN accredited programs. UNCCharlotte, oneof 16institutionsintheUNCSystem, comprises a College of Arts and Sciences and Colleges of Nursing, Architecture, Business Administration, Engineering, and Education and serves 14,000students including 2,000 graduate students. The Charlotte metropolitan region contains more than a million and includes major health care delivery institutions, including a hospital adjacent to the campus, which provide clinical settings for the education and training of UNC Charlotte students. The Dean is the chief administrative officer and academic leader of the College ofNursing and reports to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. Responsibilitiesinclude developing and directing the nursing programs, managing personnel and budget resources, and planning for the future of the College. Candidates must have a master’s degree in nursing and a doctorate in nursing or related field and demonstrate competence in administration, research, and teaching at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Appointment will be made at a faculty rank and salary consistent with qualifications and experience. Candidates must be available to start no later than July, 1992. Screening of applications will begin August 31,1991, but applications will be accepted until the position isfilled. Applications should include a current curriculumvitae, transcripts, aletterdescribingthe relationship between the experience of the candidate and the qualifications required of the Dean, and names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three references. Send applications and nominations to Dr. Terrel Rhodes, Dean Search Chairperson, Office of Academic .Wairs, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte NC 28223. UNC Charlotte is an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer. cducdtor/rmplowr 8 “%*D5’ Volume 23, Number 2, Summer 1991 zyxw k n o l d I% d n qua1 clpporcunit% LOYOLA Damen Hall Room 501 uNnrERsm 6525 North Sheridan Road CHICAGO Chicago, IL 60626 NIEHOFF SCHOOL OF NURSING 77