DiversityNursing Blog

Star Cunningham

http://4dhealthware.com 

The healthcare industry is in a constant state of flux. But while technologies are rapidly changing, the industry is still cast in monochrome with little racial or gender diversity. There are definitely large societal issues at root – like the massive expense of becoming a doctor and lack of adequate STEM education in many inner-city elementary schools – that will take a generation to solve. But while these massive gaps remain, it is often hard to see incremental progress.

Recently, I found a study that gave me a small glimmer of hope that progress is happening. According to Professional Diversity Network, recruiters and HR professionals accelerated their search for diverse talent in healthcare in January. Specifically, the Professional Diversity Network’s Diversity Jobs Index, which tracks the demand for diverse talent across sectors, jumped 11 percent from December 2014 in healthcare. 

The Professional Diversity Network pointed to a few factors that could have attributed to the change. For example, the study suggests that many more small clinics across the country, particularly in urban settings, have increased their workforces. 

While the Professional Diversity Network pointed to trends that could be the cause, I believe this is evidence that diversity programs like the Institute for Diversity, Ms. Tech and Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy are finally beginning to have an impact not just on awareness, but also on behaviors. 

Diversity programs are crucial because they not only acknowledge that problems exist, but they create communities to offer training and support to help women, minorities, and other under-acknowledged groups succeed. For example, IHSCA prepares inner city high school students for a career in healthcare with tutoring and mentorship programs. 

This is great news not only for the women, minorities, veterans or disabled professionals being employed, but also for the healthcare industry as a whole. Healthcare professionals service every ethnic group and gender, so the more that doctors and nurses can empathize and understand their patients, the better care they will give. In part, that empathy and understanding relies on working in a diverse environment.

So to answer the question I posed in the headline: yes we should get our hopes up. Healthcare executives are in fact beginning to value and invest in diversity, which is a sign of positive change. There is still a long way to go, and who knows if there will ever be an all minority board of a hospital, but we’re heading in the right direction.

Glenn Llopis

www.huffingtonpost.com

Like many healthcare providers in the Los Angeles area, and well beyond to healthcare organizations throughout the United States, City of Hope has recognized the growing need for clinical professionals and staff that more closely mirror the patients it serves in its catchment area. And with a local population that is nearly half Hispanic, that means recruiting more Hispanics into the industry, as well as providing much needed career development opportunities. But whereas most in the industry are just beginning to acknowledge the need, City of Hope has taken the lead to recruit more Hispanics into the industry and also has started to build a Hispanic talent pipeline for the immediate and not so distant future.

According to Ann Miller, senior director of talent acquisition and workforce development, "Even when people in the industry recognize the need for more Hispanics, or just a more diverse workforce, it can feel overwhelming trying to figure out what actions to take and how to build a strategy around it. But once you see the data laid out in front of you, and see that 46 percent of your primary service area is Hispanic, you realize it would be optimal to figure out how to recruit a workforce that looks more like the population you are serving. Beyond that, it's also important to employ a bilingual staff that can speak the language and understand the culture to best meet the needs of the community being served."

Once you recognize the need, it's time to start asking the questions that will help you fill the gaps:

• How do you find and appeal to the types of people you need to start building relationships with? Who are the influencers and the connectors?
• How do you get your recruitment team looking toward the future and building a pipeline, when limited resources are focused on more immediate needs?
• How do you get buy-in from senior management and enlist other departments throughout the organization?
• How do you partner with others in the industry who recognize the need but have yet to become active in the pursuit of common goals? 

Here's how City of Hope has started to answer these questions as it takes the lead in addressing these timely industry issues. Stephanie Neuvirth, Chief Human Resources and Diversity Officer, has said that it's not easy to build a diverse healthcare or biomedical pipeline of talent, even when you understand the supply and demand of your primary service area and the business case becomes clearer. "Few in the industry are taking the helicopter perspective that is needed to really see the linkage between the different variables that must be factored in to solve the problem," she says. 

Even in healthcare, it's not simple, and it takes time to develop the paths, the relationships and the pipeline to cause real and sustainable change. It takes linking a workforce talent strategy to the broader mission and strategic goals of the organization. And it takes collaboration with the community, schools, government, parents and everyone who touches the pipeline to help achieve the necessary and vital missing pieces of the puzzle.

Talent Acquisition and Workforce Development

What you first have to realize is that there is an immediate but also a long-term gap to fill, which represent two sides of the same coin: talent acquisition and workforce development. We know we can best serve our community by mirroring the community that we serve, and that doesn't stop with the talent that we attract today; it's an imperative that depends on the talent pipeline that we build for the future.

City of Hope's approach has been to start fast and strong with some immediate steps that can then be built upon and cascaded out into a longer term strategy for the future. The good news is that if your goal is to look like the community you serve, you don't have to look far for the talent you need. It's right in your own backyard. But there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of educating people about potential careers in healthcare -- clinical and otherwise -- developing the workforce skills and knowledge that they will need, and planting the seeds in the next generation. 

It's particularly disheartening to hear about the young people graduating from high school and college who can't get jobs, when there are growing shortages in the healthcare industry - the nation's third largest industry, and projected to be its second largest in just seven years. According to a recent report by The Economist, U.S. businesses are going to depend heavily on Latinos - the country's fastest-growing and what it calls "irreversible" population -- to fill the gaps not just in healthcare but across all industries. 

If you look just at nursing, the single largest profession in California, you can see how far we have to go. Only 7 percent of the 300,000 nurses in the state are Hispanic. The clinical gaps extend to doctors, just 6 percent Latino; pharmacists, less than 6 percent; and the list goes on and on.

Teresa McCormac, nurse recruiter, is one of the people at City of Hope working to build the Hispanic talent pipeline, beginning with the need for Spanish speaking nurses. She is responsible for elevating City of Hope's presence in the community through word of mouth referrals and by getting active in broader outreach online, in publications and at local, college and national events, such as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) annual conference taking place in Anaheim, CA this July.

"It's important to have a passionate champion for the candidates, as well as our hiring managers and the organization. My role is to get the word out into the community about City of Hope and connect with the talent we need to fill our current and future openings," she says.

This requires a multi-prong approach to recruitment efforts, where you must act to attract candidates not only for current needs, but down the road five-ten years, and even further into the future. 

This begs the question: how do you get more Hispanics and other diverse students interested in the sciences and considering careers in healthcare? 

Traditionally, recruiters focus on those currently working in healthcare to fill immediate gaps, as well as those working in other industries with transferable skills, who might be interested in working in healthcare in a non-clinical capacity, such as IT or marketing. They also look at colleges with nursing and other clinical programs -- particularly those with high concentrations of Hispanics and other diverse students -- where they can conduct outreach efforts, build partnerships and establish a presence. 

But building a talent pipeline requires that you reach students well before the college years, when they are still in high school, and even earlier as middle and grade-schoolers. It takes time to get the message out there and have it stick, so the bigger and bolder you can go, the better. That was City of Hope's thinking behind the launch of its Diversity Health Care Career Expo in September 2014, which made quite an impact with the community and opened eyes to the variety of career opportunities within healthcare. It also opened City of Hope's eyes to the level of interest from the community when 1500 people showed up for this first of its kind event. 

What started as an idea for a diversity career fair to fill immediate positions quickly grew to encompass a workforce development component to include students, parents, as well as working professionals interested in transitioning into healthcare. The Career Expo brought a level of awareness never seen before in the community -- and did so very quickly. For example, it allowed healthcare professionals to connect the dots between math and science classes students were taking and how this learning applied in the real world of healthcare -- and the different careers these types of classes are helping to prepare them for if they stick with them. It also allowed parents to understand how to help their children prepare for jobs that are available and will continue to be available in the future. They also gained insights into how growing up with smartphones and other electronic devices has given their children a distinct advantage that previous generations didn't have -- enabling them to leverage their everyday use of technology into transferable skills that could lead towards a career in Information Technology, which offers a very promising career path within the healthcare and biomedicine industries. 

Catching students early on to spark their interest and expose them to healthcare careers and professionals who can encourage and support them along the way requires that you go out into the community as well. Toward that end, City of Hope has partnered with Duarte Unified School District and Citrus College on a program called TEACH (Train, Educate and Accelerate Careers in Healthcare).

According to Tamara Robertson, senior manager of recruitment, the TEACH partnership provides students with the opportunity to gain college credit while still in high school by taking college-level classes at no cost. This puts them on the fast track to higher education and career readiness by giving them essential skills and capabilities to enter the workforce soon after graduating high school, or to continue their education with up to one year of college coursework already completed. Eighteen students were accepted into the program in its first year.

Each partner plays a valuable role in the program. City of Hope provides students with opportunities to gain first-hand exposure to healthcare IT by giving overviews of the various areas within IT, providing summer internships, and offering mentoring and development interactions. Duarte High School is the conduit for the program by selecting the students for the program and facilitating the learning, and Citrus College develops the curriculum that enables students to earn college credits and IT certifications. It's ideal for students who may not have the means to continue on to college, but can work for an organization like City of Hope that offers opportunities to start their IT career as a Helpdesk or Technology Specialist. In addition, they can take advantage of tuition reimbursement should they choose to further their education and development.

In today's world, social media must be in the recruitment mix, especially if you want to engage with Hispanics who index higher on time spent on social media than the general population and any other group. Statistically, 80 percent of Hispanics utilize social media compared to 75 percent of African Americans and 70 percent of non-Hispanic whites. It's also a great way to reach not just active candidates in search of a new position, but passive ones employed elsewhere whose interest may be peaked when a more interesting opportunity presents itself. 

This is where Aggie Cooke, branding and digital specialist, comes in -- leveraging social media as a core component of City of Hope's outreach efforts to potential candidates. She takes a three-legged approach to the use of social media for recruitment:

1.  Branding - offering relevant content that portrays the culture and appeals to a candidate's values and broader career aspirations;

2.  Targeting - identifying potential candidates who have skills and experiences that the organization needs today and in the future; and

3.  Engaging - creating a relationship by inviting candidates to dialog with City of Hope.

You can reach more people through social media -- even if they're not active job seekers -- by posting information that is relevant to their field and interests. For example, oncology nurses will be interested in what you have to say about the latest developments in the world of oncology. 

Though it can seem overwhelming with so many messages out there competing for people's attention, you can break through with content that is authentic, timely and purposeful. You can also make an impact by tailoring your content to the medium you are using. For example, a story about a scientific breakthrough at City of Hope would play well on LinkedIn, while pictures of happy employees taking a Zumba class together would engage potential candidates on Instagram. Social media also enables you to expand the reach and prolong the life of live events. For example, attendees of the Career Expo last year engaged online with live tweets and Instagram pictures from the event and later provided comments and feedback about their experience that will be instrumental in planning this year's event.

Going forward, successful programs and events, like TEACH and the Diversity Health Care Career Expo, will be expanded upon, as City of Hope continues to lead the way in talent acquisition, workforce development and creating a talent pipeline for Hispanics and the future of healthcare.

Nurses are an important part of the medical workforce. They provide crucial supplementary services and are primary caregivers in a lot of industries. As such, the demand for nurses is high, though there are variations according to different states. As the country’s population and access to medicine continues to grow, the demand for nurses does as well.

Source: http://online.adu.edu

Growing up, Adriana Perez experienced the kinds of challenges that are at the core of the immigrant experience in America. She learned English as a second language, attended underperforming public schools in a small town, and struggled to pay for college because her parents—who were farmworkers—couldn’t afford to send her.

Through it all, Perez focused on the gifts she received during her upbringing: love and support from her family, guidance from her teachers and mentors, a strong work ethic derived from a culture that values hard work, and a personal drive to make a difference in her community.

When she reached adulthood, she made an unusual choice—at least for her demographic group: She became a nurse. Now an assistant professor of nursing at Arizona State University, Perez, PhD, ANP, is a member of the most underrepresented racial or ethnic group in nursing.

In 2013, Latinos comprised 3 percent of the nation’s nursing workforce, according to a survey by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the National Forum of State Workforce Centers, and 17 percent of the nation’s population, according to a U.S. Census Bureau fact sheet. And their numbers are growing: By 2060, Latinos are projected to comprise nearly one-third of the U.S. population. But their growth in nursing has been slow, Perez said.

Recruiting more Latino nurses is about more than parity in the nursing workforce; it’s about improving health and health care for Latinos, who have disproportionately high rates of HIV transmission, teen pregnancy, and chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Latinos also are less likely to have health care coverage than other racial or ethnic groups.

More Latino nurses can help narrow disparities, experts say, because they are more likely to be able to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate care to Latino patients. “Having a culturally competent nurse really makes a difference in terms of compliance and patient outcomes,” said Elias Provencio-Vasquez, PhD, RN, FAAN, FAANP, dean of the nursing school at the University of Texas at El Paso and an alumnus of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows program (2009-2012). “Patients really respond when they have a provider who understands their culture.”

The Institute of Medicine (IOM)—the esteemed arm of the National Academy of Sciences that advises the nation’s leading decision-makers on matters relating to health and medicine—agrees. In 2004, it published a report calling for a more diverse health care workforce to improve quality and access to care and to narrow racial and ethnic health disparities. And in 2010, the IOM released a report that included calls for greater diversity within the nursing profession in particular.

Latinos Aren’t Flocking to Nursing

Yet despite their growing numbers, Latinos are not flocking en masse to the nursing profession.

That’s in large part because of inequity in education, said Dan Suarez, BSN, MA, president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses. “Many Latinos come from poor educational systems, and few concentrate on the kinds of science and math courses that are needed to enter nursing school. Latinos have the highest high school drop-out rate in the nation, and many students are just focused on staying in school and making it to graduation.”

Meanwhile, there are relatively few Latino nurse leaders and educators who can serve as role models, coaches and mentors to the next generation of nurses, Perez said. “When young people aren’t able to see themselves in those roles, it’s hard to imagine that they could be in that role.”

Language and culture also play a role. Latino parents often discourage Latino youth—and especially boys—from pursuing nursing because it is regarded as a low-status, low-pay service job in Mexico and parts of Latino America, Suarez said. “Parents tell their children they can do better than nursing ... Nursing has an image problem, and we’re trying to change that.”

The culture’s emphasis on traditional gender roles also discourages Latina wives and mothers from working outside the home and, if they do, from pursuing leadership positions, said Mary Lou de Leon Siantz, PhD, RN, FAAN, a professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis and an RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program alumna (2004-2007). “The majority of Latina nurses go into associate degree programs and don’t see the need to go back for more education.”

Racism against Latinos, she added, is “full-blown,” especially amid the national debate over immigration. Academics and others retain unconscious biases against Latinos and members of other groups that are underrepresented in nursing.

RWJF is committed to increasing diversity in nursing through programs such as New Careers in Nursing, which works to increase the diversity of nursing professionals to help alleviate the nursing shortage, and the RWJF Nursing and Health Policy Collaborative at the University of New Mexico, which prepares nurses, especially those from underserved populations in the Southwest, to become distinguished leaders in health policy. The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action, a joint initiative of RWJF and AARP, is working to diversify the nursing workforce, with help from Perez and others. The National Association of Hispanic Nurses, meanwhile, offers scholarships to Latino nursing students.

But more needs to be done, Siantz and others said. Educational bridge programs to help students transition into nursing school are needed, as are interventions to dispel negative stereotypes about nursing among Latinos and increased mentorship for aspiring nurses and nursing students.  “Latino nurses often talk about the influence of a family member, or a role model, or a mentor who told them to be a nurse,” said Perez, whose grandmother, a nurse in Mexico, encouraged her to pursue nursing in the United States. “We need to do more of that kind of outreach.”

Source: http://www.rwjf.org

By Caitlyn Coverly

A few weeks ago, senior vice-president Laszlo Bock took to Google’s official blog to publicly share the company’s employee demographics, revealing a predominately white male workforce and admitting a reluctance to come forward with the data earlier.

The announcement was deemed a groundbreaking disclosure, because U.S. companies are not obligated to make their workforce demographics public. However, citing that transparency is key to finding a solution, Mr. Bock wrote, “Simply put, Google is not where we want to be when it comes to diversity … our efforts, including going public with these numbers, are designed to help us recruit and develop the world’s most talented and diverse people.”

In Canada, many companies have come to realize the strategic importance of a diverse workforce and, much like Google, have initiated comprehensive diversity strategies. But developing and executing those strategies is no easy feat.

Financial institutions were among the first organizations to act on the long-term demographic and labour-market significance of Canada’s Employment Equity Act, which requires special measures and the accommodation of differences for four designated groups in Canada: women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

“As a regulated organization, we looked at diversity from a compliance perspective at first,” said Norma Tombari, director of Global Diversity at the Royal Bank of Canada. “However, with the appointment of Gordon Nixon as CEO in 2001, came the revitalization of a very robust diversity strategy; what we refer to as our Diversity Blueprint.”

RBC has been recognized in recent years for its achievements in diversity and inclusion practices. Its 2013 Diversity and Inclusion Report shows RBC’s workforce is comprised of 64% women, 31% visible minorities, 4.6% people with disabilities and 1.5% aboriginal persons — numbers that are fairly representative of the general workforce in Canada.

So, how do companies reach this level?

“Education becomes key when you are managing a multicultural and multigenerational workforce,” Ms. Tombari said. “There will be unconscious bias and blindspots, as well as a lack of cultural understanding and awareness throughout all levels of the organization, so it is our job to put programs in place that counter those attitudes.”

RBC takes a multifaceted approach, offering employees various workshops and webcasts on raising cultural acumen, as well as access to self-assessment tools where employees can rate their own level of understanding.

“The goal is to provide learning that is focused on the topic of diversity and inclusion and the rest is about embedding it in the cultural landscape of an organization,” Ms. Tombari said.

Canada’s energy giant Suncor is at a different stage of the diversity and inclusion-implementation process. After merging with Petro-Canada in 2009, changes in corporate structure created a tidal wave of new systems and strategies.

“With so much change and turnover, some things — such as our diversity strategies — got pushed to the side,” said Kelli Stevens, a company spokeswoman.

The company’s 2012 diversity report shows Suncor’s workforce is comprised of 23% women, 11.1% visible minorities and 2.7% Aboriginal persons. “We don’t look at our current percentages and think that’s okay,” Ms. Stevens said. “We are, and always will be, trying to improve them.”

Suncor, similar to Google, faces the uphill battle of recruiting from a rather homogenous talent pool. “We are a male-dominated field,” Ms. Stevens said.

In 2011, women earned only 16.5% of degrees/diplomas categorized within the fields of architecture, engineering and related technologies, Statistics Canada data shows. In fields relating to mathematics, computer and information sciences, women earned only 27% of degrees/diplomas. However, out of those pursuing post-secondary education, women account for more than half at 58%.

Suncor is in the process of developing a strategy that makes those desires a reality. Part of that strategy is supporting various programs that work to broaden the talent pool.

In March 2013, the Suncor Energy Foundation approved a five-year, $1.5-million program aimed at helping Women Building Futures (WBF), an organization that specializes in encouraging and preparing women for careers in skilled trades, to refine its business model and expand its impact.

Suncor also provides funding for Actua, the Ottawa-based national science, technology engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program, to help develop and deliver STEM programs to Aboriginal youth across Canada.

“Many of the communities we have a strong presence in have a high representation of aboriginal people,” Ms. Stevens said. “We want to be reflective of where we work and build strong relationships with those communities.”

Echoed in both companies’ strategies is the hard fact that implementing a diversity strategy is not easy; it is a long-term commitment with results as well as challenges at all stages.

Susan Black, managing partner at Crossbar Group, and Keith Caver, North America practice leader for talent management and organizational alignment at Towers Watson, offer the following advice for corporations undergoing a significant change in workforce demographics:

Inclusion is about making the numbers count: “Companies tend to jump right into programs without clearly defining their goals,” Ms. Black said. “This is often the result of a disconnect in their understanding of their own issues. In an ideal world, having a 50/50 split between male and female employees would be considered success, however, companies really need to look at their corporate structure and their client base to determine if that is what is best for their organization.”

Don’t define diversity too narrowly: “Companies tend to frame all diversity efforts around the four groups and they end up leaving a lot of white space,” Ms. Black said. “As a result people get left out of the diversity conversation. We are all a part of diversity and the thoughts and opinions of everyone should be valued in an organization.”

Culture isn’t something you can change overnight: “It typically goes one of two ways,” she said. “Either organizations declare victory too soon or they fall prey to diversity fatigue. The fact is it takes a long time to change workplace cultures. Don’t rush the process.”

You must address cultural differences and unconscious bias: “It is not good enough to just have the people in place,” Mr. Caver said. “There is an array of information available about shifting demographics and leveraging human capital. There must be an unwavering commitment to educating and preparing leaders so companies are not held back by hidden biases.”

Source: business.financialpost.com

Experts weigh in on how the nursing workforce has changed in last 25 years. Download, read the full PDF article -> http://bit.ly/VvUIdy

This is a great snapshot done by CareerBuilder of Diversity in the workplace.

By: Robert Rosseter

Nursing’s leaders recognize a strong connection between a culturally diverse nursing workforce and the ability to provide quality, culturally competent patient care.  Though nursing has made great strides in recruiting and graduating nurses that mirror the patient population, more must be done before adequate representation becomes a reality. The need to attract students from under-represented groups in nursing – specifically men and individuals from African American, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, and Alaskan native backgrounds – is gaining in importance given the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projected need for more than a million new and replacement registered nurses by 2016.

Diversity in the Nursing Workforce & Student Populations

• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the nation's minority population totaled 102.5 million or 34% of the U.S. population in 2007.  With projections pointing to even greater levels of diversity in the coming years, nurses must demonstrate a sensitivity to and understanding of a variety of cultures in order to provide high quality care across settings.  

• According to data from the 2008 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN), nurses from minority backgrounds represented 16.8% of the registered nurse (RN) workforce. Considering racial/ethnic backgrounds, the RN population is comprised of 5.4% African American; 3.6% Hispanic; 5.8% Asian/Native Hawaiian; 0.3% American Indian/Alaskan Native; and 1.7% multi-racial nurses. 

• Though men only comprise 6.2% of the nation’s nursing workforce, this percentage has climbed steadily since the NSSRN was first conducted in 1980. The number of men in nursing has increased from 45,060 nurses in 1980 to 189,916 nurses in 2008. http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/rnsurvey04

• According to the National Sample Survey, RNs from minority backgrounds are more likely than their white counterparts to pursue baccalaureate and higher degrees in nursing.  Data show that while 48.4% of white nurses complete nursing degrees beyond the associate degree level, the number is significantly higher or equivalent for minority nurses, including African American (52.5%), Hispanic (51.5%), and Asian (75.6%) nurses. RNs from minority backgrounds clearly recognize the need to pursue higher levels of nursing education beyond the entry-level.

• According to AACN's report on 2010-2011 Enrollment and Graduations in Baccalaureate and Graduate Programs in Nursing, nursing students from minority backgrounds represented 26.8% of students in entry-level baccalaureate programs, 26.1% of master’s students, and 23.3% of students in research-focused doctoral programs. In terms of gender breakdown, men comprised 11.4% of students in baccalaureate programs, 9.5% of master’s students, 7.5% of research-focused doctoral students, and 9.0% of practice-focused doctoral students. Though nursing schools have made strides in recruiting and graduating nurses that reflect the patient population, more must be done before equal representation is realized. 
  
• The need to attract diverse nursing students is paralleled by the need to recruit more faculty from minority populations.  Few nurses from racial/ethnic minority groups with advanced nursing degrees pursue faculty careers. According to 2010 data from AACN member schools, only 12.6% of full-time nursing school faculty come from minority backgrounds, and only 6.2% are male. www.aacn.nche.edu/IDS

Recognizing the Need to Enhance Diversity

• All national nursing organizations, the federal Division of Nursing, hospital associations, nursing philanthropies, and other stakeholders within the health care community agree that recruitment of underrepresented groups into nursing is a priority for the nursing profession in the U.S.   

• Nursing shortage reports, including those produced by the American Hospital Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the Joint Commission, and the Association of Academic Health Centers, point to minority student recruitment as a necessary step to addressing the nursing shortage. media-relations/fact-sheets/nursing-shortage

• Besides adding new clinicians to the RN workforce, a diverse nursing workforce will be better equipped to serve a diverse patient population.  According to an April 2000 report prepared by the National Advisory Council on Nurse Education and Practice, a culturally diverse nursing workforce is essential to meeting the health care needs of the nation and reducing the health disparities that exist among minority populations. http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/nursing/nacnep/reports/first/5.htm

• A report released by the Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce in September 2004 stated: “The fact that the nation’s health professions have not kept pace with changing demographics may be an even greater cause of disparities in health access and outcomes than the persistent lack of health insurance for tens of millions of Americans. Today’s physicians, nurses, and dentists have too little resemblance to the diverse populations they serve, leaving many Americans feeling excluded by a system that seems distant and uncaring.” Download the entire report, titled Missing Persons: Minorities in the Health Professions.

Strategies to Enhance Diversity in Nursing Education

A lack of minority nurse educators may send a signal to potential students that nursing does not value diversity or offer career ladder opportunities to advance through the profession.  Students looking for academic role models to encourage and enrich their learning may be frustrated in their attempts to find mentors and a community of support. Academic leaders are working to address this need by working to identify minority faculty recruitment strategies, encouraging minority leadership development, and advocating for programs that remove barriers to faculty careers.

AACN, in collaboration with leading foundations and stakeholders, has taken the following steps to enhance diversity in nursing education:

• In January 2010, AACN published a new set of competencies and an online faculty tool kit at the culmination of a national initiative funded by The California Endowment titled Preparing a Culturally Competent Master’s and Doctorally-Prepared Nursing Workforce. Working with an expert advisory group, AACN identified a set of expectations for nurses completing graduate programs and created faculty resources needed to develop nursing expertise in cultural competency. This work complemented a similar project for undergraduate programs which resulted in the publication of the document Cultural Competency in Baccalaureate Nursing Education and the posting of an online toolkit for faculty.

• In April 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation joined with AACN to launch the RWJF New Careers in Nursing Scholarship Program. This program is designed to alleviate the nation’s nursing shortage by dramatically expanding the pipeline of students from minority backgrounds in accelerated nursing programs. Scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each will be awarded to 1,500 entry-level nursing students over the next three years. Preference will be given to students from groups underrepresented in nursing or from a disadvantaged background.

• AACN and the California Endowment are collaborating on a three-year program to offer the Minority Nursing Faculty Scholarship Program to increase the number of nurse educators from underrepresented minority groups. This program provides financial support and mentoring to students pursuing graduate degrees who are committed to teaching in a California school of nursing after graduation. To date, 23 graduate nursing students have been selected to receive scholarship funding. 

• AACN and the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing’s Future launched the Minority Nurse Faculty Scholars Program in 2007 which is modeled after the California Endowment program. In addition to $18,000 in scholarship funding, the program also features mentorship and leadership development components to assure successful completion of graduate studies and preparation for a faculty role. Ten scholars are currently receiving funding through this program.

• AACN is collaborating with a variety of national nursing organizations to advocate for more federal funding for Nursing Workforce Development Programs, including funding for Nursing Workforce Diversity Grants. This program provides funding for projects to increase nursing education opportunities for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities underrepresented among registered nurses. In FY 2007, these grants supported the education of 32,847 nurses. 

• AACN’s Executive Director Polly Bednash serves as the representative from Nursing on the Sullivan Alliance to Transform America’s Health Professions. Composed of national leaders in health professions education, this interprofessional working group focuses on advancing strategies to increase the number of healthcare providers from minority populations. The Sullivan Alliance’s latest initiative focuses on establishing statewide collaborative groups to coordinate efforts to enhance diversity in the health professions.