Paper
Monday, November 5, 2007
376
Ambassadors for Professional Nursing Success Program: Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
Justine Anne Taddeo, EdD, RN and Susan Apold, PhD, RN, ANP. Nursing Department, College of Mount Saint Vincent, Bronx, NY, USA
| Learning Objective #1: identify 5 strategies used to increase retention and promote success among culturally diverse and disadvantaged nursing majors in a baccalaureate nursing program. |
| Learning Objective #2: identify 3 obstacles encountered in working with culturally diverse and disadvantaged students and effective problem solving activities. |
The “Ambassadors for Professional Nursing Success Program” was developed to provide academic, financial and social assistance to culturally diverse and disadvantaged nursing majors. The goal of the program was to foster their progression through a baccalaureate nursing program, increase their retention rates and foster success. A secondary goal was to promote a group of successful students who would serve as ambassadors for the nursing profession, reaching out to other culturally diverse potential nursing students. A Federal HRSA, (Health Resources & Services Administration) Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant funded the implementation of the program at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, where the overall enrollment is composed of approximately 60% minority students, with nursing enrollment approximately 75% minority students. This presentation will provide an outline of the program including strategies for success, obstacles experienced, and factors related to improved retention rates. The project was able to increase the retention rate of culturally diverse and disadvantaged nursing student at the college from approximately 13% (prior to the development of the program) to approximately 87% among nursing student participants. The results of the analysis of data collected during the three years of the funded project will be presented. With continued concern over meeting the increased demand for professional nurses as well as promoting greater diversity to better reflect the general population, this presentation can offer valuable information to nursing educators in assisting their students on the road to success.