Recruiting Underrepresented Students for Nursing Schools

Preparing a richly diverse nursing student population is essential to improving health outcomes for the nation and achieving a robust supply of health-care providers who better reflect the society we serve. As the U.S. population becomes more diverse, cultural competence is necessary among health-care professionals in order to practice with cultural humility. Cultural humility refers to a commitment and active engagement in a lifelong learning process that allows individuals to better meet the complex health-care needs of patients, communities, and colleagues. The design of an effective recruitment strategy should be driven by the mission of the educational institution and aligned to reflect the targeted population of potential students. Recruitment efforts and activities should be designed to improve the ability to attract a diverse population and more firmly establish a continuing pipeline of possible students. This article presents strategies such as building relationships and partnerships with 2-year community colleges with upper division nursing programs, and employing technology solutions to enhance recruitment and admissions of a diverse pool of applicants. Technology solutions can help manage large applicant pools, help staff coordinate a communication campaign so there is frequent contact with prospects, and capture notes throughout the recruitment process that can be utilized in a holistic admission strategy. Recruitment is the first step; to address retention, students must be welcomed into an inclusive learning environment where they can successfully advance, in order to achieve the goal of a more diverse nursing workforce.