MinorityNurse.com

 

A message to HBCU's

Sadly, the previous post by Wallena Gould, CRNA is true. I must say that for there to even be 6%, I am surprised; however, that should still send the message to HBCU BSN programs that the time to act is now.

How can we expect the COA to hear us on issues that effect us as minority nurses when we are not even being heard by the very people that look like us and experience what we experience first-hand? That is a daunting question to ask out loud because empathy alone will tell you that the silent intrinsic answer is "we cannot". As an individual, Mrs. Gould can speak up as much as she likes, but history tells us that the whole hand (denoting collectiveness), is more productive than any one finger.

As cliche as that may sound, please pause and consider the urgency of this matter because I can assure you that the Coucil of Accreditation did not think in the benefit of minorities in anesthesia when the decision to not allow any new Nurse Anesthesia programs to arise as of 2015. I pose another question, "Should the decisions surrounding the priorities, goals, and interests of Nurse Anesthetists on a national level not address the needs of the 6% because the 94% are more important? The obvious answer is absolutely not! However, experience tells us that the group with the bigger voice gets the most consideration.

I will be the first RN on this posting with my BSN to say that although only 12% of RN's have their BSN's, it is still not ok for the 12% with their BSN to think that education stops there. As important as it is to increase the amount of BSN prepared RN's in an HBCU setting, it is equally important to have fair and equal opportunities in pursuing careers such as Nurse Anesthesia that have been spear-headed by and in many ways inclusive only to the majority thus far.

Physics 101 tells us that F (force)= m (mass)x a(acceleration). Finally, one may ask me, what is your point??? My point is a simple question, "What HBCU Nursing School will make history in becoming the first to start a Nurse Anesthesia Program?" To give you the first answer, "You have 6% of 37, 000 to help you do so. On the Contrary, those minorities like myself hoping to matriculate into a Nurse Anesthesia Program within the next year have a 1.4% (6% of 25 - most programs accept 25 students per year, multiplied by 108 - number of Accredited CRNA programs) chance of actually getting accepted and since the needs of minorities are less likely to be addressed given the lack of representation, there's an even less chance of success of completion for reasons not even involving academic inabilities.

Once again, the time is now.....

James Lewis RN, BSN