| Learning Objective #1: Describe how racial and ethnic minority students' social integration and culture affect their nursing school experience | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Identify faculty characteristics and interventions that positively influence minority students' persistence in nursing school |
Purpose: Despite the growing racial and ethnic population in the United States, minorities in the nursing profession are underrepresented. Contributing to this problem is the fact that minority nursing students drop out of nursing school before graduation at a higher rate than Caucasian students. Few studies have explored factors influencing minority students’ persistence in nursing school. The purpose of this study is to explore minority students’ perspectives of their experiences in predominantly Caucasian nursing programs.
Design: A phenomenological qualitative design was used to explore the students’ experiences and perceptions. The study examined student persistence through the lenses of social integration, culture, and faculty characteristics as they relate to minority student retention in nursing school.
Methodology: Fifteen minority students enrolled in nursing programs at three 4-year public universities in California were interviewed. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data saturation guided the sample size. Moustakas’ methods for phenomenologic analysis were used.
Results: Eight themes emerged from the data. Themes included: loneliness and isolation, differentness/longing to fit in, lack of knowledge and understanding from peers, coping with insensitivity/discrimination, craving acknowledgment of individuality, desiring a rapport with teachers, overcoming obstacles, and determination to build a better future.
Implications: This study provides a description of the lived experience of minority students in predominantly Caucasian nursing programs. By understanding these students’ experiences and perspectives, educators may be better able to meet minority students’ educational and social needs, and increase graduation rates.
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