Embracing intersectionality in nursing education: advancing equity and inclusivity in healthcare

The discourse surrounding population and healthcare workforce diversity, encompassing nursing education, clinical practice, and research, remains a pressing global concern. Sara Ahmed (2012) suggests that policies aimed at addressing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) often fall short, serving more as performative gestures to safeguard corporate reputations rather than fostering substantive change. While the significance of EDI strategies in promoting inclusivity is widely acknowledged, their effective implementation within nursing to achieve genuine inclusivity poses a significant challenge for nurse educators, practitioners, and managers alike. Consequently, nurses from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds continue to experience discrimination in various aspects of their professional education, practice and career advancement. This editorial proposes ways to foster inclusivity in nursing by introducing an ‘Intersectionality’ approach to professional education, aiming to enhance our understanding of individuals’ complex identities, unravel the multiple strands and causes of inequity, including power dynamics and social contexts of inequality, to address the substantial gap between privileged and disadvantaged groups in society.