Oregon Center for Nursing

Project Need

The Nursing Student Admissions Database (NSAD) Pilot Project is one component of the Oregon Center for Nursing's Nursing Workforce Diversity Initiative. The aim of the NSAD Pilot Project is to begin annually collecting reliable data that describes the true number and select demographic characteristics of applicants applying to Oregon's 21 ADN programs and BSN schools in order to accurately track and report admissions and enrollment trends.

In time, it is hoped that the NSAD Project's trend data might serve as the impetus for targeted outreach to increase diversity and cultural competence in Oregon's nursing workforce as well as provide information for nursing programs/schools and policy makers about how to go about increasing nursing career pathways to target workforce training to this demand occupation while at the same time ameliorating Oregon's nursing shortage.

The Need for Increased Diversity and Cultural Competency in Health Care Settings

National recommendations to increase the diversity of the nursing workforce are grounded in the assertion that the lack of health professionals from minority populations contributes to the persistence of health disparities. However, values conflicts and institutional racism that lingers in both schools of nursing and healthcare agencies has kept students from underrepresented populations from choosing nursing as a career and has significantly affected their job satisfaction once they enter practice. This may be particularly true in the Northwest, where the comparative number of nurses from underrepresented populations is small. It is hoped that a more culturally competent workforce will create a more welcoming environment to attract and retain multicultural nurses in the profession.

While little evaluative research has documented the impact of multicultural and culturally competent healthcare providers on healthcare outcomes, common wisdom and experience implies that this approach may improve health outcomes for underrepresented populations by improving communication, self-esteem, sense of control over health, and trust in the healthcare system, and by reducing the perception of social exclusion and discrimination.