Enhancing diversity in nursing: a partnership approach.

Recent census data highlight the ongoing shift toward greater levels of racial and ethnic diversity in the US population. In 2000, non-Hispanic whites accounted for 69% of the population. By 2010, this decreased to 64%. The Census Bureau predicts that minorities will become the majority over the upcoming decades. In nursing and other healthcare professions, however, a different picture emerges, with minorities consistently underrepresented. The authors describe the development, outcomes, and benefits of the clinical leadership collaborative for diversity in nursing. Strategies for overcoming barriers to increasing diversity in the nursing profession are addressed.

The power of professional nursing practice--an essential element of patient and family centered care.

Understanding power and learning how to use it is critical if nurses' efforts to shape their practice and work environments are to be successful. As part of our efforts to develop a Fast-Track BSN-to-PhD nursing program, we met with nurse leaders from six organizations to explore what power means, how nurses acquire it, and how they demonstrate it in their practice. Through these discussions, we identified eight characteristics of powerful nursing practice that, together, form a framework that can guide nurses' efforts to develop a powerful practice and shape the health care delivery settings and academic institutions in which they work. In this article we review recent studies of organizational power and share discussions which helped us better understand nursing power and the ways in which it is manifested. We also reflect on what power means for individual nurses and the profession and discuss how our insights influenced our Fast-Track program.

Using career nurse mentors to support minority nursing students and facilitate their transition to practice.

The Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing was developed through an academe-service partnership focused on supporting minority nursing students and facilitating transition to practice. A key program element is mentoring. Students are paired with an experienced, minority clinical nurse or nurse leader from one of the partnering agencies, who helps guide the student throughout the junior and senior year of school and first year of employment. The mentoring component was evaluated through surveys in which mentors and mentees rated one another and offered open-ended comments on the program's impact. Aspects of mentees rated highest by mentors include manner (courteous and professional), ability to communicate and get along with others, preparation for meetings, and fully utilizing their time with mentors. Aspects of mentors rated highest by mentees include warmth, encouragement, and willingness to listen; enthusiasm for nursing and how they sparked the mentee's interest; and clarity regarding expectations for mentees and how they pushed mentees to achieve high standards. In the open-ended comments, mentees consistently identified mentoring as the program's strongest component. Sixty-four minority students have participated to date with a zero rate of attrition and very low job turnover among graduates.