Applying critical theories to nursing in communities.

Public health realities in the United States indicate that unsafe physical surroundings, oppressive social arrangements, economic impoverishment, and political disenfranchisement threaten the safety and well-being of countless aggregates. To affect change in health-damaging conditions, nurses are urged to join with vulnerable groups, working together to expose oppressive situations and take action. As a guide for such emancipatory practice, the use of critical theories as the conceptual basis for community health nursing is advocated.