Using narrative inquiry to understand anti-Muslim racism in Canadian nursing

Abstract

Background: Islamophobia or, anti-Muslim racism, and more specifically, gendered islamophobia targeting Muslim women who wear a hijab is rising globally and is aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, anti-Muslim racism is not well understood in Canadian nursing. Purpose: This study utilized narrative inquiry to understand anti-Muslim racism through the experiences of nurses who wear a hijab with the goal of putting forward their counter-narrative that disrupts anti-Muslim racism in Canadian nursing. Methods: Narrative inquiry informed by Critical Race Feminism, care ethics, and intersectionality were used to analyze the factors shaping anti-Muslim racism and composite narratives were used to present the results. Results: The three composite narratives are: ‘This is Who I Am: A Muslim Nurse with a Hijab and an Accent’; ‘I Know What is at Play: Unveiling Operating Power Structures and Power Relations’; and ‘Rewriting the Narrative: Navigating Power Structures and Power Relations’. These composite narratives constituted the nurses’ counter-narrative. They revealed intersections of gendered, racial divisions of labour and religious narratives that shape anti-Muslim racism, as operating power relations in nursing, and how Muslim nurses reclaimed control to resist their racialized stereotypes. Conclusion: Findings suggest that anti-Muslim racism in nursing operates through multiple intersecting power relations. Using stories can mobilize transformational change so that anti-racist practices, policies, and pedagogy can be embraced.