Initiatives aimed at retaining ethnically diverse student nurses in undergraduate programmes: An integrative review

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Health Workforce Diversity
• Student Retention

Background:

• Recognized global shortage of ethnically diverse registered nurses (RNs).
• Previous international strategies for a diverse RN workforce have yielded variable outcomes.
• Need for evidence-based interventions to ensure a representative future RN workforce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify initiatives for retaining ethnically diverse students in undergraduate nursing programs.
• Focus on strategies addressing the retention of this demographic.

Main Methods:

• Integrative literature review (January 2006-December 2015).
• Searched CINAHL, PubMed, ProQuest, ERIC, and Cochrane databases.
• Seventeen papers analyzed using thematic analysis and Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) tools.

Main Results:

• Four emergent themes: prediction, recruitment and retention, single approach, and multiple approaches.
• Single program approaches were found to be limiting.
• Multiple strategies across the student lifecycle are more effective.

Conclusions:

• Numerous factors influence the retention of ethnically diverse nursing students.
• A comprehensive, multi-faceted strategy from recruitment through graduation is recommended for higher success rates.
• Supporting diverse student recruitment and retention enhances the RN workforce's linguistic and cultural representation.