Posted: March 23rd, 2023

The Experiences of African American Nurses

Article Summary

In the nursing faculty, African American students are highly under-represented. The reason this trend is becoming worrying is that a consistent depreciating analysis has been recorded since 2003. Hence, the nursing profession has remained poorly diversified due to the unbalanced racial demographics in the United States. Unfortunately, a history of ethnicity and racism is still prevalent since the early 90s, despite the significant contributions made in the medical sector. However, legislative changes ensured that black nurses received a nondiscriminatory access into all nursing colleges. Therefore, the following summary outlines the experiences of African American nurses, the achievement made, and what is needed to diversify the nursing faculty.

The African American nurses had three analyzed significant experiences that affected their productivity while attending nursing programs. Firstly, there has been a constant struggle with isolation and the sense of belonging. Secondly, other experiences analyzed include the nursing faculty impact on student success and the importance of having academic and interpersonal supports. Thirdly, in a situation of less isolation, more commitments, motivation, and improved grades in their studies were recorded.

After the analysis, some fundamental aspects were recorded. The faculty support was reported to improve the grades of most African American students in this field. In fact, the academic and mutual support significantly assisted most students to persevere throughout their college years, a situation that guided them to their graduation and later to the licensing exams (White & Fulton 2015). However, inadequate support to overcome all these experiences led to poor grades, depression, and an increased number of dropped out. Therefore, these inconveniences have simultaneously resulted in a decreased number of qualified black nurses in all American hospitals today.

As evident from the summary, there is a complex problem stemming from the racial and ethnic pressures in the nursing colleges. The negativity derived from these encounters has consequently led to a decreased enrollment of African-American students and poor academic performances. Therefore, it is imperative to promote inclusiveness in all colleges today, a practice that students and the administration should embrace for a better health care sector.

References

White, B. J., & Fulton, J. S. (2015). Common experiences of African American Nursing

Students: An integrative review. Nursing Education Perspectives, 36 (3), 167-175.