Rewriting the Microaggression Narrative Enhancing Nursing Students' Ability to Respond

Background: It is recognized that expanding the number of racial/ethnic minority nurses is key to addressing the challenges of health disparities. However, some schools of nursing have not typically experienced diversity. Problem: Diverse nursing students experience increasingly high rates of exposure to microaggression, discrimination, and bias in the clinical and classroom settings. Providing nursing students with strategies to respond to microaggressions can reduce barriers to nursing education. Approach: An interactive workshop based on the Theater of the Oppressed performance technique was developed to increase students' ability to recognize/respond to microaggressions. Outcomes: Students (n = 97) completed a preworkshop-postworkshop evaluation. After participation, students indicated an improved ability to recognize microaggressions with intent to respond when they occur. Conclusions: Race was the most common microaggression addressed in the skits, followed by gender and ability. The interactive nature of the workshop allowed students to practice strategies to address microaggressions.