Paper
Friday, July 13, 2007
Academic Collaboration for Underrepresented Minority Enrollment in Nursing (ACUMEN): An Initiative to Increase Diversity in Nursing Education and Workforce
Veronica G. Parker, PhD and Barbara N. Logan, PhD, RN, FAAN. School of Nursing, Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA
This presentation describes the development and implementation of the ACUMEN program at a university in the southeast. The ACUMEN program is designed to increase nursing education opportunities for individuals from educationally and economically disadvantaged backgrounds and from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups. The under-representation of racial/ethnic minority groups in nursing education and the nursing workforce persists. Much more has to be done to recruit and graduate nurses from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds and to increase the diversity of the healthcare workforce. The ACUMEN program addresses this need. Components of the program consist of pre-enrollment recruitment activities that include outreach to high school students directly and to college students in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs); linkages with existing university academic outreach programs; Saturday Colleges; as well as on-campus informational sessions. Student-centered retention components involve linkages to peer and professional mentors; academic support services; financial support; and cultural competence workshops for nursing faculty. Over a 2-year period, 23 ACUMEN participants enrolled in the baccalaureate nursing program and are progressing well towards graduation. Challenges to the ACUMEN program include keen competition for the most qualified and talented racial/ethnic minority students who are presented with numerous career options; competing student responsibilities limiting the time students have to participate in retention activities; and students’ reluctance to be singled out as different and requiring support services. These program components and strategies to resolve challenges will be presented in depth, as well as the impact of the program on program participants, the School of Nursing and the University.