CNHS Initiatives Target Health Disparity & Promote Diversity

Imagine you are hurt or very ill - you do not speak English as your first language and you look up from your hospital bed to find a nurse who not only speaks your language, but shares an understanding of your culture…who you are. Relieved, you are able to communicate with someone about your most vital asset, your health. Chances are, if you are in the Boston area, you will have a UMass Boston, CNHS nurse taking care of you. Dr. Michael Foley, Medical Staff President, of Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Hospital knows the quality of students we graduate and advocates that if he is sick, he would want to look up and have a UMB nurse looking after his care.

But CNHS is not just about nursing care. Our Exercise & Health Sciences program is very active in preventative health care – focusing on maximizing your health while also collaborating on critical research such as obesity and cancer, two of the nation’s greatest health threats. The Nursing program faculty and students are also engaged in major research projects which are changing the future of Nursing care, education and health policy. CNHS has numerous initiatives in which we are working to promote diversity by educating minority professionals. 

Our vision is to improve the health-related quality of life of diverse urban populations through the integration of teaching, targeted research, service, practice, and health policy in partnership with others.

Learn more about our initiatives in promoting diversity…

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CNHS to Collaborate with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute on U-56 Grant –
Focus on Cancer Research and Addressing the Shortage of Minority Nurses

PhD Program in Health Policy Targeted to Cancer Nursing Care and Health Disparities –

A Joint Venture in Training, Mentorship and Community Outreach

The severe shortage of registered nurses and Doctorally prepared nursing faculty is confounded by the exceptionally severe shortage of minorities within nursing, at a time when a culturally diverse nursing faculty and workforce are critical to meeting the healthcare needs of our country.  Despite the fact that minority groups represent almost 33% of the U.S. population, only 12.3% of registered nurses represent racial or ethnic minority groups (Sullivan Report, 2004).  The overwhelming majority of Doctorally prepared nurses are White, non-Hispanic.  Yet, a culturally diverse nursing faculty and workforce are critical to meeting the healthcare needs of our country.  The problem of too few Doctorally prepared nurses, and even fewer Doctorally prepared minority nurses is further complicated by the paucity of Doctorally prepared nurses with research expertise in health policy, cancer nursing care or health disparities.

Therefore, the purpose of this project is to develop a training and mentorship program that will prepare students, especially under-represented minority in PhD in Nursing students from the University of Massachusetts Boston with a focus on health policy targeted to cancer nursing care and health disparities in a coordinated effort between the DFCI Department of Nursing, the Phyllis Cantor Center for Research in Nursing and Patient Care Services and the UMass Boston College of Nursing and Health Sciences.  In addition, to address the major factors (of faculty age and an adequate pool of younger faculty for replacement of nursing faculty) contributing to the faculty shortage, we will design, pilot and evaluate a fast track BS to PhD program focused on cancer, health policy and health disparities.  We will also develop community outreach and prevention programs with the expertise of the DFCI clinical investigators and scholars as well as the resources and interest of UMass Boston faculty and nursing students.

Excerpt cited from U-56 Grant Proposal
by Pat Reid Ponte, RN, DNSc, FAAN and Greer Glazer, RN, CNP, Phd FAAN

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BBN story published in OnCall Magazine
Bringing the Best to Nursing (BBN), a workforce diversity grant is a unique program to recruit, retain and graduate high-quality minority and economically disadvantaged nursing students.

Goals of the BBN Program:

• Enhance recruitment of minority nurses
• Provide support to retain and graduate diverse nurses
• Prepare nurses to work with underserved urban populations
• Provide stipends to eligible students
• Maximize academic potential
• Support diversity in students with promise
• Provide support to retain and graduate nurses who are racially and ethnically diverse

The success of the BBN program is undeniable. Dynamic Solutions Associates recently provided a program review – consultants Theodore Trevens, MBA and Liliana Riva-Clement, MPH wrote in their executive summary:

Overall the evaluation [of BBN] found a program that is well received and highly valued by the staff and students. Students and faculty seem to be in agreement that the “culture of community” which is the central objective of the model, has been created, does support the students and should lead to improved retention and graduation. Specific aspects of the program that they students praise included the attention they are given by BBN advisors, the peer groups , support and attention for the BBN Project Manager and the ability to congregate in the BBN Lounge. A common theme with most student was that they BBN gave them a physical and emotional place to “belong”, something they felt did not exist outside the BBN in a large [commuter] school such as CNHS. Surprisingly, students gave relatively little mention of the computer and stipend.

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Research Targets Minority Population Health Issues

Advancing Cancer Prevention through Diet and Exercise for Minority Populations: Department of Exercise and Health Sciences to Participate in U56 Grant:

Professor and Chair Dr. Kyle McInnis and faculty from the Department of Exercise and Health Sciences (EHS) will begin ground breaking research as part of a collaborative study with the Dana Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) as part of the UMB-DFCI U-56 grant.  According to Dr. McInnis, "This study responds to an urgent need to develop, test, and implement cancer prevention interventions for physical activity promotion and weight management, particularly among ethnically diverse and low-income populations."  The study will test newly developed electronic health promotion (e-health) strategies to determine if  they are effective in promoting healthy weight control by supporting participant's efforts to improve their fitness level and adopt better eating habits. According to Dr. McInnis, "The primary aim of the study is to determine the feasibility of developing and implementing an interactive electronic diet and physical activity monitoring and feedback system (eSolutions) to promote improvements in diet, exercise, and weight loss that can be delivered at low cost through the internet or in-person at a community recreation center." The National Cancer Institute has identified physical inactivity, poor diet, and unhealthy weight as important challenges to preventing the most common types of adult cancers. 
Learn more about the CAREERS you can pursue with a degree in Exercise & Health Sciences and the core classes which will prepare you.

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Achieving our Urban Mission –

A focus on diversity in meeting health and wellness needs

A “culture of community” has been developed with a diverse group of students: culturally, linguistically, racially, economically, and educationally. The success enjoyed thus far is a tribute to the students who have been building this community. We believe that the students, who were able to get into the competitive nursing program at UMass, have skills, talents, and competencies that are useful now, to serve their fellow students in CNHS, in the University, and in the Boston Urban Community. The secret is to call these competencies to the fore, and to support the individual scholars as they work to deepen their knowledge, sharpen their skills, and express their compassion. This is where diversity begins, with each individual. Human beings are individuals regardless of the number of matching external traits they may share.

Nonetheless, nursing does suffer from the stereotype of being a profession of white females, and the demographics bear out this perception. The Massachusetts Colleagues in Caring Collaborative RN Survey reported the following demographics for the State in 2001: 96.9% of the Registered Nurses were female, 95.7 were white, (N=9000). As the BBN Scholars graduate and join this workforce, they will need to collaborate, communicate and take leadership roles in a community that is not as diverse as the general population or even as diverse as the program in CNHS. Their baccalaureate preparation will be crucial.

The baccalaureate preparation not only will help to change the face of nursing, but it will also help to save lives. Dean Glazer recently wrote:

“Nurses prepared with baccalaureate and higher degrees attain better patient outcomes in terms of a “substantial survival advantage” a decreased risk of patient death, and a decreased failure to rescue rate (Aiken et. al. 2003).  They also have lower rates of medication errors and procedural and practice violations (Delgado, 2002; Fagin, 2001), stronger communication and problem solving skills (Johnson, 1988), and stronger critical thinking and leadership skills (Goode et. al., 2001). In as much as the Institute of Medicine (1999) (IOM) has reported between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die each year due to medical errors, dealing with the preparations of nurses to minimize errors would make sense. [G. Glazer (2005) ­ “Higher Education for Lower Patient Risk?” Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Advanced Nursing 52(4), 345-346.

The BBN Scholars are challenged to build a “culture of community” here at the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. When they graduate, the will draw upon these experiences as they collaborate with the nurses already in the workforce. Judging from their success in building a community in the BBN Program we are optimistic. Most of the credit for the success of BBN thus far belongs to the students, who have built the “culture of community”  which was envisioned when the Workforce Diversity Grant for BBN was written.

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Men in Nursing: Broadening Awareness of the Nursing Role             

CNHS male students, Michael Wood, Richard Bielawski and Vladimir Turetsky collaborated with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute nurses Rick Boyajian, RN, MS, ANP and Daniel Gorman, RN, MSN, OCN, on a workshop entitled: Men in Nursing: The Challenge of Caring from the Male Perspective in November. The Men in Nursing program was a presentation suggested by two Community Mentors to the BBN Program. The nursing role presents special challenges to men. Men have important contributions to lend to the efforts of their female colleagues, this program was held to encourage the male students to continue their studies and to think about productive collaboration as the nursing role expands to include a more diverse population. A second workshop is being planned to broaden the discussion and awareness of the nursing role.

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Ethnic Minority Graduate Students Give Back - Develop Undergraduates

Linda Dumas, Project Director has recruited students from the Masters and PhD Programs of the College of Nursing and Health Sciences to assist with the task of building the BBN community. Gloria Cater, a PhD candidate is assisting in the Community Mentoring component that matches BBN Scholars with nurses practicing in Boston. Seray Cuthbertson, a Master candidate, and Wilder Pinnock-Tooley a recent Masters graduate are serving as Advising Assistants. Seray and Wilder facilitate a more personal connection between the Faculty Advisor and the BBN Scholars. This collaboration between the undergraduate and graduate programs within CNHS provides both a model and important services for the BBN Scholars.

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CNHS Promotes Diversity through Annual Conferences
Dr. Jane Cloutterbuck coordinated the 2nd Annual Diversity Faculty Workshop on March 30, 2005  which is funded by an HRSA Workforce Diversity Grant, Bringing the Best to Boston, held it. The well-attended workshop addressed the issues and challenges of working with English as a Second Language students in the clinical setting. A distinguished panel presented a range of perspectives on the topic, such as mentoring from a multicultural perspective and the importance of helping staff nurses and clients be more accepting of students who speak English with an accent. An analysis and discussion of clinical cases in the latter half of the program prompted an in-depth discussion about strategies for working with ESL students clinically. Attendees expressed the need for more dialogue and ongoing faculty training to augment the retention and graduation rates of ethno-racial minorities, speakers of English as a second language, and educationally disadvantaged students.

Join us on for our enlightening 3rd Annual Diversity Workshop tentatively scheduled for March 29th, 2006. Stay tuned to our website for more details! www.cnhs.umb.edu

Focus on a Leader in Diversity

Professor Jane Cloutterbuck's interests center on diversity in health care/health care disparities, qualitative research, and issues in minority aging. In addition to teaching her graduate students in NU613 Human Diversity in Healthcare, Dr. Cloutterbuck is an active role model in the larger community. In the last year, Dr. Cloutterbuck served as an expert panel member at Harvard Medical School for the Women's Health Network Task Force to Address Health Care Disparities and Barriers to Health Care, and she participated in the Summer Institute on Qualitative Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She presented her research on dementia caregiving among African American families to a well-attended Community Forum sponsored by the Massachusetts chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. She coauthored the chapter "Ethnic Elders" for the newly published textbook Geropsychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, and an article of hers was accepted by The Gerontologist. The article, which reports on similarities and differences in dementia family caregiving across three ethnic groups, is based on work accomplished during her research fellowship at the Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for Aging, Research and Training Institute. Lastly, Dr. Cloutterbuck delivered the Keynote Address at the Roxbury Community College Associate Degree in Nursing Program Pinning Ceremony. Dr. Cloutterbuck is the founding Director of the Nursing Education Program at RCC. 

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CNHS Collaborates on “Welcome Back” to Facilitate

Internationally Trained Nurses into Boston Workforce

The Boston Welcome Back Center is a collaborative effort spearheaded by the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education and Chancellor Judith Gill and joined by the Presidents of Bunker Hill Community College, Massachusetts Bay Community College, and Roxbury Community College, and the Chancellor of UMass Boston.  The Dean of the CNHS has represented the Chancellor at all of the Executive Committee meetings. This initiative is designed in response to the nursing shortage, imbalance in the racial/ethnic, cultural and linguistic makeup of nurses, and disparities in access to quality healthcare and health status among minorities.  The goal of this project is to facilitate the entree of internationally trained registered nurses into the nursing workforce in Boston.  The CNHS Dean has also been serving on the leadership group with the presidents. 

The Dean of the CNHS served on the working group of Chancellor Gill and Presidents of Bunker Hill Community College, Roxbury Community College and Massachusetts Bay Community College to develop this project.  UMass Boston CNHS will have 2 roles: nurses who have been educated in baccalaureate programs internationally who need a clinical course to take the licensure exam will enroll in courses at the CNHS, and the course on “The US Healthcare System” will be refined and piloted at the CNHS.  The Dean of the CNHS will serve on the Executive Committee of the Boston Welcome Back Center.

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RN-BS Students Project Goal: Increase Ethnic Minority Nurses in Faculty Roles

Read more of our recent accomplishments in our Fall/Winter newsletter