Educating ethnic minority students for the nursing workforce: facilitators and barriers to success

The number of ethnic minorities graduating from nursing programs does not meet the number of ethnic minority nurses that are needed for patient care. In order to identify the facilitators and barriers to success, a survey was sent to current students and to those who graduated within 2 years. There were 314 responses, which was an overall response rate of 39.6%. Among the 4 facilitator factors, only the general academic support factor was perceived as more helpful by African-American students (p = 0.001). Among the 5 barrier factors, African-American students and Other Ethnic Minority students perceived program workload and pace (African-Americans p < 0.005; Other multicultural groups p < 0.02), computer access (African-Americans p < 0.05; Other multicultural groups p < 0.05) and technology competence (African-Americans p < 0.02) to be barriers. Any student, regardless of ethnicity, who worked at a job 13 to 40 hours a week, perceived family and financial concerns as a barrier. Results indicated that curriculum content should include technology basics and testing for competence. Financial support for students must be expanded through loans and scholarships so workload and pace become more manageable.