Health Notes

Investing in Progress

By Connie Mitchell

When people of color are hospitalized, it’s unlikely they will receive nursing care from someone who looks like them. Although about 40 percent of the U.S. population is composed of ethnic and racial minority groups, about 80 percent of registered nurses are white, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.

The Saint Louis University Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing hopes to help make the nursing workforce look more like the overall population with a $2.1 million grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. The grant funds four years of support for underrepresented minorities and disadvantaged students at the school.

Dr. Teri Murray, professor and dean emerita, serves as project director. The school received two previous HRSA grants to support nursing workforce diversity, and Murray says efforts have been successful.

“We have seen an increase in the admission, retention and graduation of minoritized students because of changes in the standard admissions process to a holistic review process, the added academic support services and financial assistance through scholarships and stipends,” she continues. “The grant funds support the program’s operational aspects and provide tuition assistance and monthly stipends for the students.” The new grant will provide support for 10 students per year during the next four years.

A new component of the grant focuses on faculty development, involving various strategies in the teaching-learning process, exploring topics such as cultural fluency, teaching in diverse classrooms and inclusive teaching strategies, among others.

“There will also be a health-equity lecture series,” Murray says. She adds that the underrepresentation of minorities in the RN workforce has serious health consequences and contributes to the disparities in health often seen in minority populations.

“Evidence supports that minority nurses have experience with diverse populations’ cultural and contextual circumstances that enables them to address the root causes of health disparities more readily,” she says. “Diverse providers are more likely to serve diverse populations, increasing access and trust. Additionally, evidence shows that patients have improved communication and decision-making with providers of the same race, ethnicity and language. Diverse providers are also more likely to advocate for vulnerable and diverse populations. These are important factors if we hope to achieve health equity.” ln SLU Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing, 3525 Caroline St., St. Louis, slu.edu/nursing