I am finishing my final semester of nursing school at University of NC, Greensboro. To say that the curricula and the faculty I've had to suffer through are Liberal would be an egregious understatement. I joined ISI looking for some hope, but there doesn't seem to be anything here for people going into medical fields, or other science type careers. Maybe I've missed something? I feel that it is so important to bring this kind of influence to those of us lost in the desert. When your teacher tells you that subscribing to the idea of social justice is required in order to be a "good nurse," something is terribly wrong.

Emily, I see what you are saying. I believe ISI is trying to reach out to the sciences, but I may be mistaken. My mom is an LPN and I have worked in a nursing home (I am not assuming that is what you are going into nursing for though) as a Resident Assistant. Being a good nurse to me means liking people (be they old or young depending on your career goals) and being willing to care for them. It is not about social justice. My mom is not in the field to bring about social justice, but to use her love of elderly people to care for them and make the last years of their lives comfortable and worthwhile. All I can say is ignore your liberal professors as they are probably in the profession to milk the government (Medicare, Medicaid, etc.) for all its worth. Just focus on learning what you need to know factually to care for people and focus on your degree and you will succeed. As a humanities person, I deal with people with whom I disagree with daily, but I press on and know that I can do what I do just as well as them. You just have to remember to have a compassionate heart for people and know what you are doing and I am sure you will be a great nurse. Last time I checked social justice had nothing to do with caring for people. I hope this helps and I wish you luck in your career because we can sure use more nurses.

Emily,

God bless you for your desire to be a nurse. I know I could never work in the medical profession and I honor those who do.

I have some questions for my own clarification. What do you mean by "hope?" What exactly were you looking for from ISI for people going into the medical profession?

I get the impression that ISI is geared more toward those in the liberal arts because that it where, overwhelmingly, college curricula is being attacked by the Left's various -isms.

You might say I was in the desert as well. I earned an engineering degree from Purdue University. But because of the technical nature of my curriculum, I rarely encountered politically correct revisionism of college courses. I'm not sure I really needed the type of resources ISI offers to avoid this type of problem, although I can see where you might need it more than I since the biological sciences are getting so polarized over Darwinism.

INsage,
Maybe I am still trying to think what I mean by "hope" myself. I have felt so different from my classmates, as most of them are liberal or swallow whatever the teacher says. All of our textbooks, but particularly the one for the community health class I had last semester, are biased. In that text, the authors told us things like some people making more money than others was wrong. And that the nurses who had decided they were the "professional organization" for community health nurses had decided on criteria for what constitutes being professional/standards of care-- one of those standards being a commitment to social justice. They go on to say that not keeping up these standards can lead to prosecution. I'm not going to be a community health nurse for that reason.
The major nurses union donates more than 70% of their political contributions to democratic candidates. The leftist ideology is so entrenched that no one questions anything. They told us that "1 of every 3 women will be abused" in four different classes. And no one said anything. Not even me, because I feel like I can't contradict a teacher without a bibliography, not that they bother to cite sources. It's really depressing. The other 7 members of my clinical group toss offhand disparagements of the president. Listening to the nurses talk in the hospital is even worse.
I guess I was looking for some kind of alternative view than "that bad government, they cut my funding." My community health teacher told us the first day in class that no-one had better try to confront her during class, she would shut them down. My gerontology teacher ranted, bosoms heaving, (during class!) "America's not the savior of the world, we're just not!" My research/management teacher used the president as an example of a knee-jerk decision maker. And anyone who wants to pursue a doctorate at UNCG, has to focus it on women or minorities, regardless of their interests.
I have only one conservative friend in nursing school, and only one "moderate" friend (she voted for Clinton twice and George W. Bush twice, she told me to illustrate her point.) It's very tiring living in this environment. I'm constantly being told things that go against all common sense. It's like having splinters in your mind, trying to take notes in class.
Sorry to rant so long

Emily,
Don't get discouraged. You are going through what most conservative students (myself included) go through every day. This is why I may not go for my Ph.D. You have two choices: become versed in nursing research and texts that support your view and use that as ammo against these liberals, or sit quietly and stoicly comfortable in your beliefs. I would recommend the former, as I do the latter in grad. school, but that is to make it out. Doing your own research and presenting may impress your liberal profs., except for the closed-minded one, as it will show them that you are willing to challenge them with sources and not just opinion.