Nursing in Latvia from the Perspective of Oppressed Theory

Abstract

Few nurses have the opportunity to witness the rebirth of a democratic state. The author, an American nurse of Latvian birth, served as a visiting professor at the Latvian Medical Academy, Department of Nursing, three weeks after Latvia had declared independence in August, 1991 during the coup d'etat of the Union of the Soviet Republics (USSR). In this article, the author shares and discusses her cultural experiences and reflections of Latvia from oppressed group theory perspectives. In an ever increasing pluralistic society, the author believes that nurses need the widening perspective of transcultural nursing to understand populations and changes in Eastern Europe. She further contends that nurses need a full understanding of what developed with the Latvians and what they have experienced during the last fifty years under communism.