Pipeline to Registered Nursing (PRN): Increasing Workforce Diversity This presentation focuses on a program designed to increase the diversity and cultural competence of the nursing workforce. It was developed in response to the need to address the shortage of registered nurses among groups that are underrepresented in nursing, primarily Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics, American Indians, and Asian groups such as Cambodian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai and Hmong, etc.  It uses the pipeline concept to invite the various groups to consider nursing as a career option. This is accomplished by forming partnerships with elementary, middle, and high schools, college/universities, and health care institutions. The pipeline has multiply entry points that range from elementary school to admission to the Loma Linda University School of Nursing. The program has six (6) major components:  1. exposure to nursing as a career option at partner sites; 2. mentoring by students currently enrolled in the nursing program for individuals who express an interest in nursing and enter the pipeline; 3. admission to the School of Nursing; 4. a preclinical quarter in which students have an opportunity to enhance skills that will help them succeed in the study of nursing; 5. workshops designed to increase cultural competence; 6. the integration of lessons learned about successful retention strategies from a previous project.

  The PRN project is funded for $840,000.00 over a three year period by HRSA Nursing Workforce Diversity grant (#D19HPO2634-01). 

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