Lessons from the past: Confronting past discriminatory practices to alleviate the nursing shortage through increased...

A critical shortage of nurses has focused attention on the current demographics of practicing nurses. Data from the most recent analysis of the nursing workforce reveals that only 4.9 percent of practicing nurses are African American as compared with 12.1 percent of the general population. This disparity of representation has implications as resources are established from which the future workforce might be drawn. Efforts to achieve parity require recognition of the lingering effects of past social injustice and determination of strategies to overcome current barriers in education and practice. Strategies designed to encourage an increase in ethnic participation include efforts directed to recruitment, retention, graduation, and practice.