Easing the projected nursing shortage will require diversity.
“It’s easier to recruit workers into a profession that rewards its members for their hard work, education, and performance,” Walden RN and oncology certified nurse Pamela Walden wrote in a September editorial for the journal Nursing Made Incredibly Easy. “An environment of respect, inclusion, and acceptance is a key component in establishing and maintaining a diverse workforce.”
Patient populations would undoubtedly benefit, too, with a diverse workforce translating into more open acceptance of diverse patient populations, Walden added.
For those wanting to learn more about diversity, the Georgia Nurses Association will host “Nursing Conversations in Black and White,” a webinar designed to provide background on racial inequities in nursing.
“This webinar will address the difficult conversations surrounding racism in nursing that are often not held or are handled poorly,” GNA wrote on the webinar’s web page.
“Past attempts to address racism in nursing have fallen short of the desired results of eliminating the systemic impact and personal biases that continue to surface within the nursing profession. This activity will provide a historical perspective on racism in nursing, with definitions and examples of micro aggression and emotional labor, and challenges from the classroom to clinical practice. There will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions, and to share their experiences, views, and suggestions.”
The webinar is scheduled for 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 18, and is worth 2.5 contact hours. You can register online by clicking here.
The four presenters are experienced nurses “who decided this is the time to have the difficult conversations, share experiences, and provide a platform for nurses to learn from each other, seek to understand, and look for meaningful change.”
Georgia Barkers is a certified life coach and CEO of The Attitude Nurse, LLC. She has been a registered nurse for 49 years and continues to be active in her professional associations and community.
Felicia Chatman has more than 24 years of experience in nursing, including nursing management, education and training, quality and patient safety, and process improvement.
Rachel Myers has 30 years of experience as a registered nurse in clinical, staff and patient education, nursing and hospital administration, consulting and academia.
Karen Rawls was the first Black nurse elected as chair of the metro Atlanta chapter of the Georgia Nurses Association in 2015 and the first Black nurse elected as president of the Virginia Nurses Association in 2017. She is a seasoned nurse educator having more than 25 years in leadership and teaching across many areas of academic and clinical nursing programs.
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