HIV PEP and Nursing Scholarship: A Review of Critical Theory and Social Justice

Abstract

Research studies are not often considered a form of social justice. However, I put forward an example herein about how I used a grant to provide nursing care to patients who could not otherwise afford the required medication. Specifically, this was the provision of HIV medications in the form of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). In doing this, I attempted to use my position as a nurse researcher to address a social justice issue (i.e., the inaccessibility of PEP for those with lower socioeconomic status) and to concurrently alleviate moral distress among the nurses who provide care to these patients. After presenting this project, I reflect on how this helps us reframe nursing scholarship and critical theory. In short, I argue that we need broader defintions of both, so as to better capture what nurses do and to use our positions for social betterment.