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A Cure for What Ails
As the national nursing shortage continues, the School of Nursing tackles the crisis head-on with a commitment to promoting health equity.
IF YOU FIND YOURSELF RECEIVING MEDICAL TREATMENT AT YALE NEW HAVEN HOSPITAL, YOU’D BE FORTUNATE TO HAVE CEPHAS AYELLAKAI, ’20, AS YOUR NURSE. First drawn to the medical field while caring for his mother in Ghana, he later graduated from Southern with top honors and is continuing his education through Yale’s prestigious School of Nurse Anesthesia doctoral program.
Ayellakai foresees a long nursing career. As such, he is a small, but mighty answer to a problem plaguing the U.S. medical field: the need for more nurses. Numerous factors are contributing to the situation, among them, an aging population with more complex medical demands; the need for more primary care providers; and a high percentage of experienced nurses nearing retirement age.
Forecasts vary, but the federal government projects a shortage of 63,720 full-time RNs (registered nurses) in 2030.* As telling, a 2023 survey of 2,000 nurses, showed 91 percent believe the nursing shortage is getting worse and 79 percent say their units are inadequately staffed.**
“Today, there are a lot of people who realize there is a nursing shortage, but it’s nothing new,” says Maria Krol, associate professor and chairperson of Southern’s School of Nursing (SON). “There has been a shortage for the last 20 years. But we can work toward solutions.”
Founded in 1969, Southern’s School of Nursing has a long history of preparing a skilled workforce for the state and region — and new initiatives are enabling more students to enter the field.
Nursing is one of the top-selected majors on campus. A record number of students applied to the nursing program for fall 2024 — 300 more than the previous fall.
They were driven, in part, by the school’s stellar reputation. On the national level, Southern’s nursing program secured a prominent position in Becker’s Hospital Review listing of the country’s leading programs and was lauded by U.S. News & World Report.
Closer to home, Southern’s SON was recognized as the “Best RN Program in Connecticut” for 2024 by RegisteredNursing.org. Southern outperformed the 20 RN programs evaluated in the state, securing the top spot with an average pass rate of 96.86 percent on the National Council Licensure Examination-RN (NCLEX) over five consecutive years — including three years with a perfect 100 percent pass rate. (The NCLEX ensures recently graduated nursing students are adequately prepared to practice.)
Diversity To Enhance Care
The program also is committed to welcoming a diverse student body — one that reflects the U.S. where nearly four of 10 Americans identify with a race or ethnic group other than white, according to the Brookings Institution. The nursing field is decidedly less diverse, as revealed by a survey of nearly 50,000 nurses in 2022: 67 percent self-identify as white non-Hispanic, with the three next largest populations identifying as Black (11 percent); Asian (9 percent); and Hispanic (9 percent).*
Leading medical organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, stress the importance of diversity among health care providers, with good reason. Research shows that a diverse health care workforce improves patients’ access to care, their perceptions of the care they received, and health outcomes.
Grants and partnerships with Yale New Haven Health and the State of Connecticut have helped the SON to not only prepare more future nurses, but also to attract less-represented groups to the profession. “It’s especially important in New Haven where the demographics of our population is very diverse,” says Chelsea Ortiz, associate director of nursing admissions, enrollment management, and communications.
Her commitment to diversity is grounded in science. It’s also personal. “My mother put herself through nursing school later in life while raising three children, going to school full time, and working full time as a nurse tech,” she says. Ortiz remembers the hours her mother spent studying and the size of her textbooks. She also recalls her mom being one of only two women of color in the program. “I want to see more people like my mother in the nursing profession,” she says.
Krol also has a long-held interest in the nursing profession. “Under my high school photo, it says that I wanted to become a nurse,” says Krol, one of six children born to Peruvian immigrant parents. But without an understanding of the financial aid process, she didn’t think college was a possibility. Instead, she joined the U.S. Army before transitioning to nursing later. Krol took the exam to become a licensed practical nurse before earning a nursing degree and eventually a doctorate in nurse practice, leadership, and education.
She’s a firm believer in the power of mentorship, one of the reasons she started the Connecticut chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses. As chair of the SON, she’s brought in an expert to discuss inclusive curriculum and numerous other speakers to address students. “It’s important to invite speakers of different ethnicities, races, and experiences,” she says.
The SON also has adopted a holistic admissions process, a strategy of reviewing applicants based on their unique experiences and skills alongside traditional measures of academic achievement. Academic standards have remained as high. Staff will also consider if an applicant is a first-generation college student, a parent or caregiver, a veteran, a first responder, and/or a member of a group underrepresented in the nursing field.
The results are dramatic, as seen by those offered direct admittance for exceptionally promising students. (Today, the SON offers two direct admittance pathways: nursing and STEM focused. Students in the latter are accepted into the major if they achieve an agreed upon level of success in STEM courses at Southern.)
Prior to adopting a holistic admission process, 12 to 28 percent of students offered direct admission each year were students of color. In contrast, about 50 percent of students offered direct admission for the Class of 2024 are students of color.
More males also have been accepted through the holistic process. The percentage of males in the nursing program at Southern ranges from 18 to 23 percent in recent years — significantly higher than the national average of 12 percent.
Access is a high priority as well. The SON offers numerous paths to a nursing career, including but not limited to an accelerated career entry program for those with an undergraduate degree. Graduate degrees and certificates as well as a doctorate in nursing education in collaboration with Western Connecticut State are available, too.
Steps are also in place to promote student success. Read on for more on the new home of the SON, support initiatives for students, and practice-based learning opportunities, including service-learning in Peru.
A STATE-OF-THE-ART BUILDING
Housed in the new home of the College of Health and Human Services, the SON features several Health Care Simulation Centers, including a “hospital floor” with patient rooms. There, programmable, high-tech medical manikins (among them, pediatric and geriatric models and one that “gives birth”) present with various health conditions to educate students in a low-pressure environment. There are adjacent areas for observation/programming of the manikins, and sessions can be recorded for review to further education. Nearby, a “home suite” with appliances, a standard-size bathroom, etc. echoes a home health care setting. And on the same floor, there are four large laboratory classrooms, each equipped with six hospital beds and six examination tables.
STUDENT SUPPORT
Students are required to attend a four-day Pre-Immersion Program the summer before they begin nursing courses. “The first semester of nursing courses can be very challenging,” says Ortiz. The program covers a wealth of information: study methods; testing format; time management; implicit bias; diversity, equity, and inclusion in health care; and more. The program also focuses on collaboration and wellness — vital topics at a time when 56 percent of nurses recently surveyed by the American Nurses Foundation reported experiencing burnout. “The more we can incorporate a sense of community during their academics the better. We’re hoping that also will continue to the nursing workforce when they are on the unit with the other nurses,” says Ortiz.
“We were fortunate in our partnership with Yale New Haven Health Network to hire a grant-supported student support specialist,” says Krol. “Whether students need supplemental course guidance, support navigating work/life commitments, or someone to track their progress with, we have seen remarkable success with this position.”
Thanks to Cristalyn Vargas’ intervention in this role, significantly fewer students are having to repeat a course. “It is so rewarding,” says Vargas. “Some of the students I met with constantly during their first semester are now excelling. I kind of miss them,” she says with a laugh. “But it makes me so proud to see how well they are doing in the program now.”
SUMMER NURSING SYMPOSIUM AND MORE
In collaboration with Yale New Haven Hospital, the SON offers a Summer Nursing Symposium for rising high school juniors and seniors throughout the state. Launched in 2021, the program is offered free of charge. Participants spend a week on campus, learning about nursing and the college admission process. They also travel to Yale New Haven Hospital to learn more about the nursing profession.
STUDY ABROAD
Krol led two service-learning trips to Peru during the 2023-24 academic year for nursing students, who learned firsthand about the country’s health care system. The students spent three days at an under-resourced clinic in the city of Cusco. Next, they traveled to a remote area to provide health assessments and health care information, accompanied by a Peruvian doctor who performed the examinations. The program also paid for a Peruvian dentist to travel with the group.
During the 2023-24 academic year, the SON also launched an exchange program to Chile. Southern students traveled to Chile in the spring and their South American counterparts are expected to visit New Haven in the coming fall.
* Health Workforce Analysis, Health Resource & Services Administration, November 2022
** State of Nursing 2023, Nurse.org
SCHOLARSHIP SUPPORTS DIVERSE NURSING WORKFORCE
BRITTNEY HERNANDEZ, ’24, RECEIVED A $12,000 SCHOLARSHIP FROM THE NEW ENGLAND MINORITY NURSE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE (NEMNLC). The scholarship recognizes academic achievement, leadership, and a commitment to serving diverse communities and promoting health equity.
“Coming from a family of Ecuadorian immigrants, I strive to advocate for and represent the Hispanic community,” says Hernandez, who graduated magna cum laude with a major in nursing and a minor in medical Spanish. Fewer than nine percent of registered nurses in the U.S. are Hispanic/Latino — a statistic she hopes to confront head-on by inspiring others to enter the field.
The NEMNLC is a collaboration between eight New England chapters of the National Black Nurses Association, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses of North America.
