Eliminating Health Disparities Through Diverse Leadership

By: Dr. Sabita Persaud

At Notre Dame of Maryland University, we believe that having diverse nurse leaders really impacts health outcomes. We have a pool of nursing faculty and administrators who are committed to social justice on every level–and eliminating health disparities.

We must have people who represent the most vulnerable at the table making decisions and bringing up hard conversations. Nurse leaders need to be people who individuals trust, who look like them and speak their language. If we really want to address health outcomes fully and eliminate disparities, this is one key intervention toward doing that.

Investing in Student Success

In 2017, NDMU’s School of Nursing received a three-year, $493,593 Nurse Support Program II Competitive Institutional Grant, administered by Maryland Higher Education Commission and funded by Maryland Health Service Cost Review Commission. Our program aimed to increase the number of diverse nurses who are moving into leadership positions. Data suggest that a disproportion exists between the number of minority nurses earning advanced degrees versus the number who obtain leadership positions post-graduation. Often nurses, particularly those from underrepresented minority groups, find it difficult to envision themselves as potential leaders. Our focus was to develop programming and resources for students to begin to view themselves as leaders:

• Recruit diverse nurses. First, we focused heavily on recruiting underrepresented minority nurses. You need diverse faculty to recruit diverse nurses. Your school has to reflect who you want to bring in, and I think we do a really good job of that. We also have long-standing academic partnerships with area hospitals, with the nurse leaders and nurse educators. Our partners encouraged their staff, especially minority nurses, to apply to our program because our faculty would tap into their strengths and talents as potential leaders in nursing and healthcare.

• Address working professionals’ needs. We supported an academic advisor who was dedicated to this group to address their unique needs. Most of our students are professionals and come to NDMU after work. Many have childcare issues. Some work multiple jobs and may not have much social support. The advisor is able to hone in and determine what challenges existed. She communicates with faculty to ask, “What can we do to assist these students to be successful?”

• Strengthen mentorship networks. Networking and mentoring are major factors in promoting the success of aspiring nurse leaders. We have supported students to join professional organizations, including the National Black Nurses Association and the Maryland Nurses Association. We supported their attendance at professional conferences, trying to increase their comfort level to mingle in leadership groups. If they are active in nursing leadership as a student, then they are more at ease when they actually become a leader.

• Facilitate peer support. We started a monthly book club that we opened up to all of nursing students, but we made special efforts to invite underrepresented Master of Science in Nursing students. We gave them the book and broke them up into small groups. Students, faculty, and staff from the School of Nursing participated. Students appreciated experiencing a sense of community with faculty, staff, and their peers, and we know with minority nurses that is really important. We wanted the students to bond and create their own sense of community throughout the program and post-graduation.

Sustaining Our Momentum

Because of Notre Dame’s mission, we were able to develop a program that promotes diverse nurse leadership to address health outcomes of the entire community. Although the grant period is over and our learning environment looks a little different, our focus on supporting our students remains the same. We continue to maintain many of the program aspects that were successful and received praise from students.

At Notre Dame, we believe that nurses and nurse leadership must reflect the face of the country. We have to be a voice at the table.

Dr. Sabita Persaud serves as an associate professor in NDMU’s School of Nursing. She specializes in the area of community/public health nursing education, with a specific focus on vulnerable populations and issues facing underrepresented minorities. She recently served as president of the Maryland Board of Nursing and was named one of Maryland’s 2018 Top 100 Women by The Daily Record.