In this session, we will highlight implicit bias, conscious and unconscious, and share various types of biases with examples. We will discuss the associated harms of bias and recommend strategies to deconstruct implicit bias. We will discuss the power of words to heal or to harm, highlighting therapeutic and non-therapeutic language, illuminating the power of words as medicine. Communication is paramount to healing and yet the value of listening is often overlooked, and so we will identify strategies to strengthen and develop listening skills. We will define and discuss professional identity in nursing as a strategy to combat implicit bias.

Speaker: Kendrea Todt, PhD, RN, Associate Professor of Nursing, East Tennessee State University