First article written by Frontier Nursing University
Second article Written by Marissa Silver

Frontier Nursing University believes in increasing awareness of the importance of cultural competency and decreasing health disparities. This article is about their 7th annual Diversity Impact Event. FNU states “Diversity Impact is designed to open the door for nurses to foster and strengthen collaborative discussions to address health disparities to improve minority health among underrepresented and marginalized groups.” Enjoy this informative article.

In a rapidly-changing, sometimes divided world, Frontier Nursing University (FNU) emphasizes the value of respecting and honoring diversity.

In the United States, there is a wide gap in health outcomes. Several populations face greater obstacles in obtaining good health based on their racial or ethnic group, religion, socioeconomic status, gender, age, mental health, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or geographic location. These disparities may exist because of social and economic inequality, inadequate health care providers or systems, and bias on the part of health care providers or patients.

The gap forming in the health of women before and during pregnancies is also a source of concern. Determinants of a mother’s health may include social factors, ethnic or racial group, or her previous health status. An infant child is also impacted by factors such as nutrition, family income, and the geographic location of their homes and neighborhoods.

Additionally, consider this: women living in rural areas have less access to health care than women living in urban areas. Where 22.8% of women live in what is defined as a “rural” area in the U.S.¹, there is a significant disparity between the health care they receive and the health care received by the “urban” population of women.

Although health care needs around the nation are diverse, health care providers do not reflect the population. In 2008, only 16.8% of Registered Nurses residing in the United States represented diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds². Additionally, underrepresented groups make up less than 10% of nursing school faculty³. The nursing profession faces the challenge of recruiting and retaining a culturally diverse workforce that mirrors the nation's demographics.

With these challenges in mind, it is important that our education system equips nurse practitioners, nurse-midwives and other healthcare professionals with the resources they need to eliminate these disparities, and ultimately achieve health equity.FNU would like to see the Frontier community impact health equity and move forward by uniting through diversity.

On June 1- 4, 2017, Frontier Nursing University held the 7th annual Diversity Impact Student Conference. Diversity Impact is designed to open the door for nurses to foster and strengthen collaborative discussions to address health disparities to improve minority health among underrepresented and marginalized groups. Students will engage in cross-cultural and intercultural workshop activities, along with leadership strategies on current diversity healthcare trends as it relates to patient-provider care.

This year’s Diversity Impact theme is Moving Forward: Uniting Through Diversity. Students will attend sessions hosted by nationally recognized nursing leaders; participate in teambuilding activities, cultural competency awareness training, and open dialogues; network with available FNU students, community leaders, faculty and staff; and learn more about the world with FNU’s International Food Menu.

Frontier Nursing University conference discusses healthcare diversity

Factors such as someone's age, race, gender and ethnicity can all play a role in their healthcare.

This weekend, Frontier Nursing University students attended a conference, to learn how those factors and other differences between populations may impact a patient's health and treatment. One factor, which may impact patients in Eastern Kentucky is living in rural communities.

"It's like a totally different population than what you see in urban areas," Vaishu Jawahar who attended the conference said. "Even though we think that sometimes urban populations have it bad, the sheer lack of resources that's out here makes being in a rural area that much harder."

Another topic discussed during the conference was caring for those in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community.

"As healthcare providers, no matter what your political views are you have to be able to take care of everyone or at least make them feel comfortable enough to seek out your care," said Jawahar.

As part of the discussion on serving the LGBT community, two Frontier Nursing University students talked about their experience treating patients during last year's mass shooting, at Pulse, a Gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Overall, those who attended the conference said taking the time to get to know the patient and their background can make a difference.

"It's so easy for us to get caught up in our way of life, we forget there's very different realities for everyone," Wilvena Bernard, Diversity Pride Program Coordinator, Frontier Nursing University said.

More than 50 students and faculty attended the conference from across the country.

Last month, University officials announced they are moving student activities from the Hyden campus to Versailles by Fall of 2018.

Interested in learning more about Frontier Nursing University? Check out their Employer Profile! Just Click Here.

Unique challenges encompass the delivery of quality healthcare in the entire world as a whole. People of all ages are terminally ill -- with approximately half the American population fighting hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis and mental related illness.

As a Nurse, you are required by the healthcare profession to be sensitive, demonstrate cultural awareness and behavioral competence necessary to ensuring healthcare issues are handled effectively. 

Medical professionals worldwide have voiced sentiments on the importance to further diversify the healthcare workforce. This is mainly because the entire healthcare profession is focused on transitioning to a patient-centered healthcare system in which patients demand more personalized care, high level rapport and open communication. 

Discrimination, stereotyping, prejudice and racism are the most common barriers toward achieving diversity in healthcare for patients and Nurses. There are multiple scenarios when you may show lack of sensitivity without even noticing it, unintentionally offending patients. You should for instance:

• Ask the patient how he or she may wish to be addressed or simply addressing him or her by their last name as a show of respect.
• Inquire of the patient’s knowledge on treatments and health problems.
• Forge the patient’s trust so as to establish a formidable nurse-patient relationship.

Diversity awareness in healthcare is however an active, continuous conscious process through which Nurses recognize the differences and similarities within various cultural groupings. As Nurses, we can only achieve diversity in healthcare by carefully evaluating and appreciating cultural group(s) differences.

Registered nurses are the most frequent point of contact with patients in healthcare. They “provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members,” according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They typically work as part of a team with doctors and other healthcare workers, and they provide the bulk of direct patient care.

As hands-on caregivers, nurses have the primary responsibility of ensuring quality, ethical care for their patients. To this end, patient advocacy is an integral part of practicing nursing; in fact, one provision of the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics says that “the nurse promotes, advocates for, and protects the rights, health, and safety of the patient.”

Nurses oversee the healthcare of many patients and can be privy to concerning practices. Hospitals are required to look after their own financial well-being, legal obligations and other factors that can sometimes cause patient care to deteriorate, and sometimes healthcare workers make mistakes. When this happens, someone who practices patient advocate nursing steps in and looks out for the patients’ well-being.

Patient Advocate Nursing in Practice

American Nurse Today (ANT) defines advocacy as “using one’s position to support, protect, or speak out for the rights and interests of another.” This practice is vital in healthcare, because errors and oversights can result in severe injury or illness, or even loss of life. According to a Johns Hopkins study, medical errors are the No. 3 cause of death in the United States, at roughly 250,000 deaths per year. A nurse patient advocate must not only catch these errors, but also argue for their correction in the future in order to promote safety and patient health.

Of all the healthcare professionals who have contact with patients, nurses are the most ideally suited for patient advocacy. Their constant contact with patients allows them many opportunities to catch errors, such as mislabeled I.V. bags or incorrect patient charts, and their familiarity with their patients can give them the ability to notice small changes in patient condition that another healthcare provider might miss.

Patient advocacy is not without its challenges, however. Being a nurse advocate for one’s patients often means correcting the mistakes of other healthcare workers and can lead to confrontations. In extreme cases, such as the below example from ANT, retaliation can even occur:

“One of the most egregious examples of retaliation for patient advocacy activities occurred recently in Winkler County, Texas, when two nurses, Vickilyn Galle and Anne Mitchell, were criminally indicted by the county attorney for reporting a physician to the Texas Medical Board because of patient-safety concerns. One week before trial, charges against Galle were dropped. A jury found Mitchell not guilty. Subsequently, the Texas Medical Board took action against the physician for witness intimidation as well as practice violations. Further, the Texas Attorney General’s office indicted the hospital administrator, Winkler County sheriff, county prosecutor, and physician for retaliation and other charges.”

The American Journal of Critical Care suggests that the best way to avoid such conflicts while practicing patient advocacy is to embrace a spirit of collaboration with other healthcare professionals, rather than taking the attitude that it is the nurse’s job to protect patients from the mistakes of others. When advocating for a patient, it’s natural to have an impulse to cast blame or render judgment of someone putting that patient at risk. While that may or may not be justified, often it’s more effective for the patient and the organization to approach patient advocacy by presenting solutions and trying to understand why problems exist in the first place, in order to better prevent them from occurring in the future.

Going from RN to BSN

Developing the right knowledge and communication skills to be an effective nurse patient advocate takes training. With an online RN to BSN degree from Campbellsville University, you can learn those skills in order to better advocate for your patients. Study in a flexible, dynamic environment with a schedule that works for your life.

…and our 2017 DiversityNursing.com Annual $5,000 Education Award Winner is… Tom Dion.

Tom is a Memory Care Unit Manager at Cape Heritage Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Sandwich, MA on Cape Cod. Tom was surprised and very happy when I called him to deliver the good news that he is our 2017 Winner!

Tom didn’t get into Nursing right away. His journey started at Westfield State University in MA as a student in Exercise Science to become a Physical Therapist. He graduated in 2008 and received his BS in Exercise/Movement Science. After school, he worked a variety of jobs, including moving furniture, medical equipment technician, as well as ice sculpting for weddings, the Bruins, and other functions.

He was always drawn to healthcare and when deciding on a new career path, he looked to do something that had more meaning. In his words, he “needed a spiritual change”. In 2012, he went to Nursing school at Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital School of Nursing and graduated with an RN diploma. I asked him what was the draw to Nursing.

“I like the idea of helping people. Nursing provides fulfillment and meaning.”

While growing up, Tom spent a lot of time with his grandparents. He was very close to them. He was drawn to working with the geriatric community because of his understanding and love for his grandparents.

Right out of Nursing school, Tom started working at Cape Heritage as a Staff Nurse doing sub-acute rehab. After 1 year, he was offered a position as the Wound Care Department Head and promoted to Assistant Director of Nurses.

Tom has worked there for 2.5 years and has gained valuable administrative and management experience. He’s now a Unit Manager of the Memory Care Unit, which is a restraint free facility. The memory care unit is his favorite because he’s able to “lend a voice for the patients that aren’t able to speak for themselves.”

"The residents provide the purpose that I was looking for."

He is always assessing his patient’s capabilities to ensure they are provided with everything needed to maintain their optimal level of function.

“It’s important to pay attention to your resident's behavior, because it often provides the most crucial insight you have into identifying a problem.”

He talked about a male patient of his, who requires reassurance on a continual basis. He is unable to communicate his needs at times, which may be as simple as which day of the week it is, what time it is, or using the restroom. “Working fast to address the root cause of his worry, and keeping him comfortable is a challenge I look forward to every day.”

It’s important to have a sense of humor because in the memory care unit,

“You live in their world”.

The reality of their world is abstract, a world that they can and will explain to you, in bits and pieces. “The rewarding part of my job is working with the residents to complete these thoughts and fill in the gaps.” When helping the residents, these moments create a lasting impression that leaves him with a sense of fulfillment he hasn’t gotten anywhere else in life. As a co-worker frequently reminds me, “when I leave work, Tom, my hands are clean and my heart is pure.”

Cape Heritage also provides hospice care. It’s not an easy job, but it is very much appreciated when family members thank them. Tom is often in awe of his team and the work they do. They are truly special people to work with this population.

I asked Tom about being a guy in Nursing. He said it was a big transition from working with mostly men to working with primarily women. He said “it’s been interesting in a good way” and he doesn’t feel he’s treated differently because he’s a guy. He’s treated well and enjoys his Monday – Friday 7am-3pm shift.

Like so many Nurses I talk to, Tom says the best part about Nursing is it can lead you in so many directions – hands-on Nursing, teaching, case management, etc. “There’s always something different you can be doing.” He’s enjoyed experiencing different parts of Nursing.

Tom’s future plans include getting his WOCN (Wound Ostomy & Continence Nurse) certification. He remembers one particular female patient that stands out. She came in with a wound the size of a basketball on her back and it was deep into her spine. He could actually see her spinal column. Because of the technology available, CPI (closed pulse irrigation), he was able to disrupt the bacteria and create a completely healthy environment. Many people thought it was impossible to heal and close her wound, but within 7-8 months she was completely healed!

While working full time, fishing and enjoying activities outdoors, Tom plans to pass the national boards and receive his WOCN certification by the end of this summer. Teaching is in his future as well.

Congratulations Tom Dion – we are proud of you and see great things in your future!

Registration is open at DiversityNursing.com for our 2018 $5,000 Education Award.

It’s Nurses Week and we always want to show our thanks for everything you do. This School Nurse wanted to show her thanks, especially to other School Nurses, for taking care of our kids. 

She created this comedy sketch based on Adele’s song, Hello. We thought it was hilarious and we hope you do too!

Hello, it's me—and you should pay attention because school nurse has something to say. 

To celebrate "School Nurse Day," Kelli Petersen, who works at an elementary school, penned a beautiful rendition of Adele's "Hello," only this time it's all about the life and times of a school nurse. "Happy School Nurse day to all my fellow school nurses! May you know how truly valued you are! And to nurses everywhere, you're amazing!," Petersen wrote on YouTube.

It's a creative celebration of countless bandaids, hurt tummies and gross bathrooms that Adele would most definitely be proud of. 

With Nurses Week right around the corner, we thought it appropriate to share this article with you about Nurses throughout history who made significant changes in the Nursing field.

You most likely know about several of them and some may be new to you. They are truly remarkable individuals who saw a problem, knew the right thing to do to bring about change, and did it. They are inspirations to us all. Perhaps you see where changes can be made in the Nursing field that will impact your profession and patients in the years to come. Please share your thoughts with the DiversityNursing.com community here.

Nurses change the world every day, yet seldom do they come into the spotlight for their actions. We place scientists, celebrities, inventors, and athletes upon the pedestal for their contributions to humanity’s good—most people can name a famous figure in each of these categories. But challenge someone to name a famous nurse, and they’ll struggle.

It’s time to change that.

Nurses are the unsung heroes of the medical field—they not only provide the day-to-day care of hospitalized patients, but they also perform tasks few others are willing to do. They care for patients in every way, from handling injections to talking down irate family members to doling out baths and bedpans. Today, their skillsets are almost indistinguishable from those of doctors—they provide just as much care as any M.D.

Among this hardworking group, there have been a few nurses whose names stand above the rest—ones whose actions changed not only the personal world of a patient, but the world at large. These are the nurses we should be talking about in the same breath as famous activists and doctors and leaders, so read on to get to know 7 times nurses changed the world.

Florence Nightingale

No list of famous nurses would be complete without Florence Nightingale.

Without Nightingale, we would not have modern nursing. She changed the world when she opened the very first nursing school in 1860, forever raising the standards of the profession by educating future generations of nurses. Up until this point, nurses were largely untrained, learning their trade through trial-and-error.

Nightingale, however, made nursing into a true profession, and saved countless lives by making sure nurses understood medical concepts we take for granted today—she taught concepts such as infection control, patient self-care, therapeutic communication, and thorough patient assessment. These were ideas that Nightingale put into practice, herself, during her time as a nurse in the Crimean War, which the death rate at her hospital by a third. Many of the nurses that went through Nightingale’s school—the Nightingale School for Nurses—went on to found their own nurse training programs, carrying her ideas all over the globe.

So the next time you’re being expertly patched up by a well-trained nurse, think of Florence Nightingale.

Margaret Sanger

Have you ever made use of oral contraception, otherwise known as “the pill”? You’ve got Nurse Margaret Sanger to thank for that.

In the early 1900s, Sanger worked in some of the poorest areas of New York, helping to deliver babies and caring for mothers. Constantly faced with the hardships of unwanted pregnancy, she became intensely frustrated with laws prohibiting contraception.

Sanger funneled that frustration into action. For a year, she closely studied birth control, even traveling to Europe to study family planning.

Her eventual plan involved three stages—educating the public on birth control, changing laws, and creating an organization to help connect women with contraceptives. She was successful in all three of these endeavors, starting her own magazine, Woman Rebel, reversing the Comstock Law, which made the mailing of birth control information illegal, and establishing the organization that is, today, known as Planned Parenthood .

Sanger was jailed, harassed, and discredited for much of her career, but won out in the end, and because of her efforts, she changed the world through the introduction of easily obtainable contraceptive care for women all over the United States.

Clara Barton

Nurse Clara Barton changed the world when she founded an institution that we’re all familiar with today—the American Red Cross.

Born in December of 1821, Barton had her first taste of nursing when her brother fell from an unfinished barn. Caring for him for the next three years, she quickly showed an aptitude for medical care.

She later found herself tending to wounded soldiers during the American Civil War, and in 1861, founded an agency that distributed supplies to wounded soldiers.

In 1862, Barton began to travel in order to reach some of the worst battlefields of the war, and was appointed “lady in charge” of the Union hospitals. Later, while searching for the missing men of the Union Army—as appointed by President Lincoln—she came by a young soldier who gave her a list of the dead in fear that he would be killed before he could get it to authorities. She traveled to Andersonville, publishing the names, and began a nationwide campaign to identify all missing soldiers of the war.

Bringing back the idea of the Red Cross from a trip to Switzerland, she formed the American branch, becoming president of the association in 1881 and leading its first relief effort during the Great Fire of 1881 in Michigan.

When you see the symbol of the Red Cross, remember Clara Barton’s contribution to a changed and better world.

Mary Eliza Mahoney

As the first African-American registered nurse, Mary Eliza Mahoney changed the world through her efforts to raise the status of nurses of color in the professional workplace.

In 1879, Mahoney received her diploma from the New England Hospital Nursing School, becoming one of only four out of a class of 42 students to graduate from the rigorous program.

In 1896, she joined the newly formed Nurses Associated Alumnae of the United States and Canada, an organization later known as the American Nurses Association. The organization proved reluctant to accept black members, and so Mahoney later form the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, speaking at their first convention in 1909 and addressing issues of racial inequality in the nursing field.

It was largely thanks to her efforts that the number of African-American nurses doubled from 1910 to 1930, and that these nurses were legitimized and seen as professionals.

It is because of this that Mahoney was later inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in 1976, and into the Nursing Hall of Fame in 1993.

Susie King Taylor 

Where Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American registered nurse, Susie King Taylor was the first African American nurse ever.

Born into slavery in 1848, Taylor’s family were servants at the Grest Plantation in Liberty County, Georgia. She attended a secret, illegal school for slave children run by a neighbor, learning to read and write.

When she and her family escaped across Union lines and were liberated, army officers took note of her education, and she became the first black teacher for freed African Americans in a freely operating school.

Later, she found her calling as a nurse with the First Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers, later renamed the 33d Regiment U.S. Colored Troops. For three years, she moved with the regiment, serving as their nurse and teaching soldiers to read and write during their free time.

Later, she became president of the Women’s Relief Corps, a national association for veterans for Civil War veterans, where she worked for the rest of her life.

Taylor’s world-changing service cannot be understated—she showed the world what freed slaves were capable of—that they were every bit as human as anyone else, and were capable of great achievements, given the opportunity.

Virginia Henderson 

Virginia Henderson earned the title “Foremost nurse of the 20th century,” and for good reason. Her contributions changed the world through their far-reaching effects on the international nursing community.

Henderson is known for defining her profession: "The unique function of the nurse is to assist the individual, sick or well, in the performance of those activities contributing to health or its recovery (or to peaceful death) that he would perform unaided if he had the necessary strength, will or knowledge." Her theory placed emphasis on helping patients become individuals again rather than completely relying on others for care—this helps increase the chance of patients caring for themselves once they leave care.

An inspiration to nurses everywhere, she changed the world through her incredible intellect and teaching ability, reshaping and redefining the field of nursing for the modern age. Her written works are credited with shifting the focus of nursing research “from studying nurses to studying the differences nurses can make in people’s lives,” according to Angela Barron’s article, “Remembering the First Lady of Nursing.”

If you’ve ever had a nurse who you felt was particularly instrumental in helping you regain your individuality and strength, you have Henderson’s world-changing writing to thank.

Anna Caroline Maxwell

When you’re referred to the “American Florence Nightingale,” you know you’ve done something right.

Anna Caroline Maxwell was one of America’s great nurse leaders, whose activities were important to the growth of nursing as a profession in the United States. She was also a founding member of the American Society of Superintendents of Training Schools for Nurses, which was a forerunner of the National Nurses Association.

During the Spanish-American War, Maxwell was sent to a field hospital in Chicmauga, Georgia, where she led a large number of nurses in improving sanitation, containing disease, and lowering the death rate—the military was so impressed with her contributions, that the United States Army Nurse Corps was established.

During World War I, Maxwell worked to prepare nurses for military service, traveling around Europe to visit hospitals in the warzones. After the war, she successfully campaigned for nurses to be given rank within the military.

Anna Caroline Maxwell changed the world by helping to integrate quality nursing into the American military, improving the working conditions and training of the nurses who would later take her place.

Nursing the World Back to Health

If you know a nurse, take the time to celebrate him or her—they belong to a tradition of men and women who have made lasting, positive impacts.

So remember these important figures. Don’t let the nurses who changed the world fade into obscurity, and don’t let the nurse in your life go without your appreciation for all they do.