[missgigius]

I am in total shock at the lack of diversity with Student Nurses/Nurse Externs. I was in two orientations this week for positions that I am working this summer and I was the only African American at one and 1 out of two at another. No other ethnic groups were there and this was shocking to me. Especially because I live in a very culturally diverse metropolitan area. It really isn't a major concern, it just sort of odd. Is this the norm in other large metropolitan areas?

[Kaplan ADN student]

Originally Posted by missgigius

I am in total shock at the lack of diversity with Student Nurses/Nurse Externs. I was in two orientations this week for positions that I am working this summer and I was the only African American at one and 1 out of two at another. No other ethnic groups were there and this was shocking to me. Especially because I live in a very culturally diverse metropolitan area. It really isn't a major concern, it just sort of odd. Is this the norm in other large metropolitan areas?

This is happening everywhere. In Florida, there are certain school which only admit a very small percentage of African American in their program and I believe this is very sad. Additionally, I witness non-white students have a hard time with some instructors. They want them to pray to them. An instructor gave a student A on a paper that he wrote and when other read it it was utter nonsense and the other student who is not white got a B, and she had a better paper. This seems to be the way of the world, however, one just has to be prepared to work a little harder than the rest to succeed.

[scorpiostudent]

maybe its just different in different areas? I live in rural SC and at our test (which was computer driven and independent from the school) there were only 3 white people and the rest of the 20ish were African American. Granted I don't know how that will play out in the actual class as I dont start nursing specific classes until late Aug, but our school choses based solely on grades on the PAX test and passing the physical/background check.

That being said, I passed, another "white girl" passed, and I'm not sure past that as I only knew about her because she was paying for her seat hold at the same time as me. I do know that a LOT of people did not pass the entrance exam.

[CT Pixie]

Lack of diversity certainly isn't a problem at my school. I'm surprised that in your area it isn't more diverse. The school is situated in a prodominatly white community and the surrounding towns/cities are also prodominately white. In my particular class we started with over 60 students, the MAJORITY of the students were non-white. I was one of 7 white students. The other students were of all different ethenic/cultural backgrounds. We have many from Haiti, Jamaica, a few from Africa, we have Hispanic students and Phillipino students. All the previous classes that have graduated and the classes behind ours are also a majority of non-white students.

During clinicals I was always the only white person in the group. The floor nurses were more often than not African-American or Phillipino. Add to that, other nursing schools were at the same clinical sites as our class and again, the majority of students were non-white.

I'm sorry you don't have as much as a diversity as we do. Like you, I find it odd.

[missgigius]

It is not the schools, it is the jobs for Student Nurses or Externs. My school is actually quite diverse.

[MBA2BRN]

At my school and in my community there are hardly any African Americans. However, my class has three of us. Thus, within clinical I am usually the only African American. Plus, as a Nurse Extern I am the only African American (this may change soon because one or two more might come on board this summer). On the other hand, my community is full of other ethnic groups and the program and the externship is reflective of such diversity to some degree.

OP, I do not blame you for being shocked and questioning what is going on. I used to live in a Metropolitan area and I would be shocked too if the surrounding community had a large number of African Americans and I am the only one in an externship program that draws applicants from multiple sources. The reason being, experience has shown me that there are a LOT of qualified African Americans that can fill positions I get and so there should be no reason I should be the only one.

[nurse2be09]

You are not alone. My nursing school is in the heart of the city and there are only 4 African American students in my class, including myself. The class below me have 4 African American students, and the accelerated class have 4 African American students as well. And this is out of 60 or so students.

I also work as a Nurse Intern and I am the only African American nurse intern there. The hospital is located in a surburb, which is mostly white. There are other African Americans who work on that floor, but 2 are unit secretaries, and the other 2 are techs.

There's not very much diversity and I don't like that. It's like the hospitals in the inner city have a very diverse patient population, but not a diverse medical staff. And I'm not referring to housekeepers or dietary.

[moncj66]

well, my class has around 10 afr. americans..i guess thats alot...i think my school is pretty diverse, except there really isn't any indians..only one...

[czyja]

Originally Posted by missgigius

It really isn't a major concern, it just sort of odd. Is this the norm in other large metropolitan areas?

I think it is a big concern. Society needs nurses that reflect the population they serve. Of course an asian nurse can serve the african american populations and vice versa and etc. But if there are few or no URM's in a school the school really ought to look at why this and take steps rectify it. Nursing schools serve the community and profession and both the community and the profession needs a diverse workforce.

Sadly, this phenomenon is not unique to nursing. I just graduated from a prestigious university with a bachelors degree in bio. Out of the hundreds of students in the bio program I can think of 2 african american students. There were however, quite a few african americans in the humanities. Why the discrepancy? I dunno, but I dont think it is a good idea to chalk it up to student preference and let it go at that.

[WindyHill]

Originally Posted by Kaplan ADN student

This is happening everywhere. In Florida, there are certain school which only admit a very small percentage of African American in their program and I believe this is very sad. Additionally, I witness non-white students have a hard time with some instructors. They want them to pray to them. An instructor gave a student A on a paper that he wrote and when other read it it was utter nonsense and the other student who is not white got a B, and she had a better paper. This seems to be the way of the world, however, one just has to be prepared to work a little harder than the rest to succeed.

This is sad but true!