Abstract

The United States is rapidly becoming a more racially diverse nation. Racial minority groups are projected to make up 47% of the total population in 2050 and if current population trends continue, they are projected to surpass the non-minority population by the end of the twenty-first century. Furthermore, the Latino population, already the nation's largest minority group, is expected to triple in size and is projected to account for 29% of the total U.S. population by 2050. Unfortunately, the educational pipeline has created a shortage of Latinos in higher education. At the same time, the United States is suffering from a national shortage of registered nurses. It is, therefore, of great concern that the proportion of minority students in nursing education programs is also not keeping up with population trends. Moreover, persistent inequalities in educational opportunities have led to persistent social inequalities between majority and minority groups, including inequalities in healthcare. Increasing racial diversity among health professionals is essential, not only as a matter of educational equity, but also because evidence indicates that diversity among providers is associated with improved access to healthcare for racialminorities. A main route to upward mobility and equality of opportunity for minorities in the healthcare industry is equity of access and success in achieving the baccalaureate nursing degree. There is an increasing body of literature which addresses retention and persistence of minority nursing students; however, the greater majority has focused on Chicano Hispanics and Black students. Further research is needed to identify factors associated with retention and persistence of other Latino groups. This study uses a qualitative design with Spradley's method of ethnographic interviewing to learn about the experiences of Puerto Rican nursing students attending college in the Northeast. Obligations to family, financial constraints and academic under-preparedness are some of
the key findings gleaned from analysis of the data.

Description

This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 3409846; ProQuest document ID: 733021393. The author still retains copyright.

Author Details

Cheryl A. Sheils, EdD, RN

Sigma Membership

Beta Zeta at-Large

Type

Dissertation

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Ethnography

Research Approach

Qualitative Research

Keywords:

Minority Nurses, Racial Diversity, Latino Nursing Students, Cultural Values and Beliefs, Nursing Education

Advisor

Joseph B. Berger

Second Advisor

Elizabeth Williams

Third Advisor

Jeungok Choi

Degree

Doctoral-Other

Degree Grantor

University of Massachusetts Amherst

Degree Year

2010

Rights Holder

All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.

All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.

All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

None: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Proxy-submission

Date of Issue

2021-12-14

Full Text of Presentation

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