How Much Do You Know About Hispanic Nurses?
Test your knowledge with this quiz:
1. How many Hispanic nurses are currently practicing as RNs
in the United States?
2. Today more than 10% of the total U.S. population is Hispanic
and that figure is expected to rise to at least 22% by 2050.
What percentage of the current RN population is Hispanic?
3. True or False: Hispanic nurses are older on average than
other RNs.
4. Where in the U.S. would you find the greatest number of
Hispanic nurses?
5. True or False: Hispanic nurses are more likely to enter
their nursing careers through associate degree programs than
nurses of other ethnic/racial backgrounds.
6. What percentage of Hispanic nurses hold advanced degrees
(master's or doctoral level)? How does this compare with nurses
from other ethnic/racial backgrounds?
Answers to Hispanic Nurses Quiz
1. As of March 1996*, approximately 40,600 of the 2,559,000
individuals with current licenses to practice as registered
nurses in the U.S. were of Hispanic background.
2. Although Hispanics account for more than 10% of our nation's
population, less than 2% of the RN population is Hispanic. You
do the math.
3. False. The average age of Hispanic nurses is 41.1 years,
compared to 44.3 years for the RN population as a whole.
4. Seventy-five percent of the Hispanic nurse population is
located in the western and southern regions of the U.S.-specifically,
38% in the West and 37% in the South.
5. True. As of March 1996, about 53% of Hispanic nurses entered
the profession through associate degree programs, compared to
about 37% of the RN population as a whole.
6. About 7% of Hispanic nurses hold master's or doctoral degrees,
compared to about 10% of Caucasian nurses and 12% of African-American
nurses.
Source: National Sample Survey of Registered
Nurses, March 1996, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services,
Health Resources & Services Administration, Division of
Nursing
*These are the most recent figures available at
press time. The new edition of the registered nurse sample survey
will be published in January 2001.
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25 and Counting
The National Association of Hispanic Nurses marks its first quarter
century of advancing the agenda for Hispanic health care needs
By Pam Chwedyk
In 1975, the world was a very different place," Carmen Portillo, PhD,
RN, FAAN, immediate past president of the National Association of Hispanic
Nurses, told NAHN members at the opening ceremony of the association's
25th Annual Conference last summer. "The war in Vietnam finally
ended; the International Women's Year Conference adopted a 10-year plan
to improve the status of women. Congress repealed the Taft-Hartley Act,
giving nurses the right to collective bargaining.
Carmen Portillo, PhD, RN, FAAN |
In 1975, the world held 4 billion people-but no personal computers and
no cell phones. The world had not yet heard about AIDS."
Back then, the world was also a dramatically different place for Hispanic
nurses. There were very few nurses of Hispanic origin in the nursing
work force-even though the nation's Hispanic population was growing
rapidly. With very few exceptions-most notably, Ildaura Murillo-Rohde,
PhD, RN, FAAN-there were virtually no Hispanic nurses working in academic
settings, doing research on Hispanic health issues or advising federal
policy-makers about the health care needs of Hispanic people.
What's more, back in 1975 there was no national organization serving
the professional and leadership development needs of Hispanic nurses.
There was no unified voice to speak up in advocacy for the unique cultural
concerns of Hispanic nurses and the communities they served.
"I began to realize that something had to be done about this,"
recalls Murillo-Rohde, dean emeritus and professor emeritus at SUNY
Brooklyn. "I saw that I was the only Hispanic nurse with a PhD
who was going to Washington to work with the federal government, review
research and education grants, etc. There was nobody else. I looked
behind me and thought: 'Where are my people?'"
Ildaura Murillo-Rohde, PhD, RN, FAAN |
This determination to "do something" to increase the representation
of Latinos in the nursing profession led Murillo-Rohde to create the organization
known today as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses. Last year,
NAHN proudly celebrated its 25th birthday as the nation's voice for Hispanic
nurses and Hispanic health. With more than 30 local chapters across the
United States and in Puerto Rico, NAHN currently represents the interests
of more than 40,000 Hispanic nurses coast to coast.
Today, at the start of the 21st century, Ameri-ca's Hispanic population
is not only growing more rapidly than any other minority group, but
also growing faster than the U.S. population as a whole, creating an
urgent demand for more Hispanic nurses who can meet this underserved
ethnic group's need for culturally and linguistically competent care.
In light of this, NAHN's original mission statement seems even more
relevant today than it was a quarter century ago:
- To serve the nursing and health care delivery needs of the Hispanic
community and the professional needs of Hispanic nurses;
- To work toward improvement of the quality of health and nursing
care for Hispanic consumers; and
- To provide equal access to educational, professional and economic
opportunities for Hispanic nurses.
Flying Solo
Like the National Black Nurses Association, NAHN began as an ad hoc
minority nurse committee within the American Nurses Association that
eventually broke away to go solo. "We felt that we really didn't
have a place within ANA," explains NAHN's 1984-1988 President,
Henrietta Villaescusa, RN, FAAN. "We had special issues and problems
that we felt were unique to Hispanic nurses and were not being addressed.
We needed to be accepted as part of the nursing profession; we needed
people to under-stand that Hispanic patients had special cultural needs."
Mary Lou de Leon Siantz, PhD, RN, FAAN |
Adds Mary Lou de Leon Siantz, PhD, RN, FAAN, a charter member of NAHN
who is now the association's current president, "In 1975, many of
us were feeling isolated. There were so few Hispanic nurses in the country-and,
especially, very, very few in academia. There was little available in
terms of mentorship and networking with other Hispanic nurses. Back then,
it was a time when 'minority' wasn't a buzzword and the isolation was
very acute."
Following the 1975 ANA Annual Conference, a group of 15 charter member
nurses, led by Murillo-Rohde, left ANA and formed a completely new association
devoted exclusively to serving the needs of Hispanic communities and
nurses. Originally called the National Association of Spanish-Speaking/Spanish-Surnamed
Nurses, the fledgling association was renamed the National Association
of Hispanic Nurses in 1979.
As the association's first president (serving from 1977 to 1980), Murillo-Rohde
continued to be the driving force behind NAHN in its early years, even
using her own money to fund the organization's growth. "That was
because there was no money to do anything," she says. "For
the first four years, I was the chief cook and bottle washer for NAHN.
I promoted the association, I put out the newsletter, I did everything."
Triumphs and Challenges
The National Association of Hispanic Nurses today is a very different
organization than it was in its infancy and toddler days. Since the
formation of the group's first local chapter in New York in 1983, the
aggressive development of a network of NAHN chapters throughout the
country has fueled steady membership growth. It has also provided opportunities
for many Hispanic nurses to serve in leadership roles in the association.
"It has been the chapters, working with the communities and the
nurses, that have shaped the growth of NAHN," Murillo-Rohde asserts.
While the association has evolved tremendously since 1975, Antonia
Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, the group's 1996-1998 president, believes
NAHN's fundamental goals have not changed. "We continue to be advocates
for Hispanic communities and Hispanic nurses," she says. "We
believe Hispanic nurses can provide unique leadership in the nursing
profession, because of our bilingual, bicultural skills. I think we
have become more savvy and more powerful as our membership has grown
and we continue to attract Hispanic nurse leaders."
Identifying barriers to quality education for Hispanic nursing students
and working toward recruitment and retention of Hispanic students in
nursing education continue to be high-priority goals on NAHN's agenda.
Says Portillo, "Given that Hispanic high school students have such
a high dropout rate, we are already at a disadvantage. Those who do
make it into nursing school often do not have the appropriate tools
to be successful academically. They may drop out or will not pursue
higher educational degrees. The majority of our nurses are prepared
at the associate-degree level."
While NAHN's membership outreach has helped make inroads in increasing
the number of Hispanic nurses in the RN population, "the recruitment
and retention challenges have been constant as well as the growth,"
Villarruel feels. "I think it's a crime that Hispanic nurses still
account for only 1.6% of the nurse work force. People will play games
with the numbers and say there's been an increase, but the fact is,
the number of Hispanic nurses has not grown proportionately to meet
the health needs of our people."
In the National Spotlight
Ask the association's founders and leaders what NAHN accomplishments
they're most proud of after 25 years and you get many different answers.
For Founder and President Emeritus Murillo-Rohde, it is NAHN's success
in encouraging Hispanic nurses to move beyond associate-level education
and earn advanced degrees.
"High school counselors would try to railroad Hispanic students
into the AD nursing programs," she explains. "I'm proud of
the fact that we've been able to push more of our nurses on to earn
doctoral degrees. We now have a number of Hispanic doctoral nurses who
are very good at research and have been recognized worldwide for their
studies. For example, Mary Lou de Leon Siantz has done work with Mexican
migrant families that was truly ground-breaking."
Portillo is excited about the fact that "in the last 10 years,
NAHN has really risen to a different level-one of national recognition
as well as local recognition. There has been great enthusiasm from people
who see the need for this organization-including nursing schools, private
industry and community health organizations-because they see our members
as the connection to the Hispanic community they need to serve."
Much of this national recognition is due to NAHN's efforts to bring
more Hispanic nurses to the federal health care policy-making table,
an achievement Villarruel is particularly proud of. "We now have
Hispanic nurse representation on important government boards, such as
the Division of Nursing and the National Institute of Nursing Research,"
she points out. "I think we've been instrumental in moving the
agenda for [Hispanic] nursing forward, and in that sense, moving our
community forward."
The association regularly submits the names of Hispanic nurse leaders
when positions open up on health policy committees, according to NAHN
Vice President Rose Gonzalez, RN, MPS, who chaired the group's Policy
Committee for the last four years. "For instance, Carmen Portillo
was appointed to serve on the NINR's national advisory committee,"
she says. "Prior to that, Mary Lou de Leon Siantz served on that
committee. Patricia Montoya [RN, MPA], commissioner of the Administration
on Children, Youth and Families, is a long-time NAHN member. We sent
a letter of recommendation on her behalf for that position, along with
the ANA."
For Siantz, the association's most worthwhile accomplishment is the
creation of a vital and growing national network of Hispanic nurses,
eliminating the isolation that existed in the past. "Hispanic nurses
need to communicate with each other," she emphasizes. "Through
our networks, Hispanic nurses have their hands on the pulse of the Hispanic
community. This enables us to give national, regional and community
leaders the message that they need to work with us, because we know
about Hispanic people's health needs more than anybody else does."
"One of our most fun accomplishments," Portillo adds, "is
our Web site, www.nahnhq.org [which debuted last year]. In the first
six months, we had close to 2,000 hits. In the next decade, I think
NAHN's technology growth will be much more visible. It's a way of saying
to our members, 'Hispanic nurses need to be where the technology is.'"
Building Future Leaders
By the year 2050, Hispanics are projected to become the nation's largest
minority group, comprising nearly a quarter of the U.S. population.
They have been described as "the emerging minority." Will
the nursing profession be able to provide enough Hispanic nurses to
meet this exploding need for culturally sensitive care? With this challenge
at the top of its agenda, the National Association of Hispanic Nurses
plans to be a very busy organization as it gears up for its next 25
years.
"We have done a lot but we need to do more," Murillo-Rohde
believes. "We want to continue to increase our membership. As I
travel, I still hear Hispanic nurses saying, 'I didn't know that we
had [an organization like NAHN].'"
Siantz would like to see NAHN representing 100,000 Hispanic nurses
in the United States and Puerto Rico by the year 2025. "One thing
we'll be focusing on during my presidency is expanding the student portion
of our membership. As the association grows, I'd also like to see us
have the capacity to reach out and mentor Hispanic boys and girls who
are interested in health care careers."
But the ultimate goal, NAHN's president emphasizes, is to continue
Murillo-Rohde's legacy of not just increasing the number of Hispanic
nurses but also developing more Hispanic nurse leaders. "NAHN has
established a venue for developing Hispanic nursing leadership that
simply didn't exist 25 years ago," Siantz says. "One of our
key strengths is the ability to mentor-in government, academic and community
settings. I want NAHN to continue that mentorship with the new students
who are coming in. We now have the wherewithal to help Hispanic nurses
develop their careers in whatever direction they want."
Pam Chwedyk is senior editor and editorial manager of Minority Nurse.
Email her at pam.chwedyk@careermedia.com.
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