Hearing nursesʹ voices through reflection in womenʹs studies

Womenʹs studies is an elective offered through the Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences, Griffith University — Gold Coast, Australia, and is attended primarily by female nursing students. The main objective of this subject is for students to gain an improved understanding and application of feminist perspectives. One of the teaching/learning strategies we have recently implemented was that of reflective processes that allowed us to explore how studentsʹ thoughts were changed during the course of the subject. As a result of engaging with womenʹs studies, students also described how in the future they may incorporate an awareness of feminist theories and frameworks into personal and occupational roles. This paper describes the common themes identified from this learning process and offers a set of empowering stories from female nursing students.