Recruitment and Retention of Minority High School Students to Increase Diversity in the Nursing Profession

Inspiring High School Students to Be Future Nurses

As an outreach recruitment endeavor, a hospital system and an affiliated college of nursing collaborated to host an immersive nursing learning experience for diverse high school participants. The program included hospital tours, speakers, educational games, and wellness activities to promote pursual of nursing as a future career path. The authors describe details of the development of the program, lessons learned, program outcomes, and implications for future programs and applicability in different settings.

Predictors of attrition and program dismissal in a nursing major

BACKGROUND

Increasing the representation of nurses and other health professionals from minority populations is one way to address health disparities. The purpose of this study was to investigate nursing admission criteria that predicted first, second, third semester attrition and program dismissal.

METHOD

A retrospective secondary data analysis was conducted on existing student records spanning from 2016 to 2020 in one BSN program from a Hispanic-serving institution to gain an understanding about program attrition and dismissal. A total of n = 349 student records were included in the analysis.

RESULTS

Pre-nursing science GPA, pre-nursing college GPA, and reading ability were found significant predictors for attrition and dismissal, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Aptitudes in the sciences and in reading should be emphasized in pre-nursing to enhance student success in nursing. Findings from this study could inform administrators in postsecondary and in secondary education about establishing infrastructures for at-risk students to better prepare the latter for a nursing major.

Original Research: 'Do I See Myself?' Exploring the Potential for Online Images to Attract a Diverse Nursing Workforce

BACKGROUND

The current nursing shortage is expected to worsen in the coming years. While this shortage has in part been attributed to challenging working conditions, which were exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are other factors. Although recruiting a more diverse health care workforce might help to reduce this shortage, little is known about how to do so effectively. This study explored how online images of health care workers vary by gender and skin tone and considered how those representations might impact recruitment.

METHODS

This was a prospective pragmatic study. Using a popular image search engine, we obtained and evaluated images (photographs, drawings, and cartoons) of people representing different genders and a range of skin tones. The search terms used were student, nurse, and physician. The search took place during a single day and stopped once 50 images for each term had been retrieved. Images were included if they depicted at least one human. Each image was evaluated independently by two raters regarding gender (male or female) and skin tone (using a version of the 10-point Monk Skin Tone Scale).

RESULTS

The final sample comprised 150 images that depicted 259 faces. Compared with the general population, nurses were overrepresented as being female (84.1%) and having lighter skin tones (85.2%). Physicians were overrepresented as being male (58.7%) and having lighter skin tones (63.5%). Compared with physicians or students, nurses were more likely to be represented as female and as having lighter skin tones.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings show a significant lack of diversity in gender and skin tone regarding how nurses are depicted in online images found via a popular image search engine. This lack of diversity may discourage people in some population groups from entering the health care field and could further contribute to the nursing shortage.

The High School to Higher Education Pipeline Program: A focus on Black male representation in nursing

BACKGROUND

Increasing the number of Black men in nursing can enhance racial, ethnic, and gender diversity within the nursing workforce. However, there is a lack of nursing pipeline programs that specifically focus on Black men.

PURPOSE

The purposes of this article are to describe the High School to Higher Education (H2H) Pipeline Program as an approach to increasing representation of Black men in nursing and to describe H2H Program participants' perspectives of the program after the first year.

METHODS

A descriptive qualitative approach was used to explore Black males' perceptions of the H2H Program. Twelve of the 17 program participants completed questionnaires. Data collected were analyzed to identify themes.

FINDINGS

Four themes emerged during data analysis regarding the participants' perspectives of the H2H Program: 1) Coming to realize, 2) Managing stereotypes, stigma, and social norms, 3) Making connections, and 4) Expressing gratitude.

CONCLUSION

Results indicated that the H2H Program provided participants with a support network that fostered a sense of belonging. The H2H Program was beneficial for program participants in their development and engagement in nursing.

Critical Perspectives on Expanding Racial/Ethnic Diversity in the HIV Research Workforce: Comorbidities and Mentoring

HIV-related comorbidities in underrepresented minority populations are reframed to include the co-occurring problems of systemic and structural barriers, within the mentoring context as a buffer and as action-oriented. This framework is discussed to improve racial and ethnic minority diversity in the research workforce from the perspectives of HIV comorbidities and mentoring. An integrated and coordinated approach to HIV-related comorbidities and inequities may be helpful when combined with research on the social-structural contributions as drivers to diversify the research workforce. We emphasize how these key research issues (a) provide a platform for training and retraining a highly motivated, diverse workforce and (b) facilitate the empowerment of these trained individuals to conduct rigorous scientific research on social-structural factors to mitigate the effects of these comorbidities. We conclude that a diverse research workforce is necessary but insufficient for improving training-related outcomes or reducing comorbidity effects. Additional considerations are warranted that include systemic approaches and changes at the structural and institutional levels.

Topic: Intentional diversity in academia: Recruiting, admitting, enrolling, and retaining underrepresented students in nursing programs

Currently, 60 % of the United States population is White, while the remaining belong to ethnic or racial minorities. By 2045, the Census Bureau predicts that there will no longer be any single racial or ethnic majority group in the United States. Yet, people across all healthcare professions are overwhelmingly non-Hispanic and White, leaving people from underrepresented groups severely underrepresented. The lack of diversity in healthcare professions is an issue because there is overwhelming evidence that patients from underrepresented groups experience disparities in healthcare at alarmingly high rates when compared to their White counterparts. Diversity is especially important in the nursing workforce since nurses are often the healthcare providers that engage with patients the most frequently and intimately. Additionally, patients demand a diverse nursing workforce that can provide culturally competent care. The purpose of this article is to summarize nationwide undergraduate nursing enrollment trends and discuss strategies to improve recruitment, admissions, enrollment, and retention of nursing students who belong to underrepresented groups.

Increasing Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Nursing Workforce: One Pediatric Hospital's Strategic Approach

BACKGROUND

The 2021 Future of Nursing Report 2020-2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity recognizes increasing racial and ethnic diversity in nursing as an imperative to achieving health equity.

PRACTICE INITIATIVES

Over a 3-year period, nursing and human resource leaders at Boston Children's Hospital, a tertiary care, 415-bed pediatric academic medical center in Massachusetts, developed, implemented, and evaluated specific strategies to increase racial and ethnic diversity in recruitment and hiring of the nursing workforce. These specific strategies focused on cultivating partnerships, building relationships with candidates, and supporting transition into practice.

RESULTS

Significant increases in racial and ethnic diversity recruitment and hiring were achieved over the 3-year period. In 2019, strategies yielded a 6% overall increase in total registered nurse diversity hiring with an 18% increase in new graduate diversity hires over 2018. In total, 16.2% of registered nurse hires for 2019 were racially and ethnically diverse. Subsequent years yielded similar success in the recruitment of diverse registered nurses.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

With the projected growth of racial and ethnic minority populations, nursing and health care leaders must prioritize intentional strategic diversity recruitment and retention actions to address this imperative to advance health equity through the creation of a racially and ethnically diverse nursing workforce.