The Citizen Nurse: An Educational Innovation for Change

BACKGROUND: Nursing education needs to provide the necessary tools for students to develop leadership skills and to practice civic agency to create meaningful change in the shifting health care field. This article focuses on facilitating a student's role in becoming a citizen nurse through curricular modifications. METHOD: Through an ongoing partnership, nursing faculty and community organizers implemented a year-long pilot project to discover the deeper insights into the role of a citizen nurse and to analyze the skills students need to be effective agents of change. Pilot lectures and workshops were held throughout the academic year, and curricular changes were implemented. RESULTS: Based on input from pilot class experiences, student reflections, and faculty workshop feedback, the decision to implement ongoing curricular changes was made by the department. CONCLUSION: The development of citizen nurses in nursing education will pave the way for praxis embedded in meaningful work with just solutions, enhancing the agency of all involved in promoting health and well-being. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(4):247-250.].