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Diversifying the Nursing Workforce

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The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Global Applications to Advance Health Equity

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Abstract

With nearly 30 million licensed professionals, the nursing workforce is the single largest sector of the global healthcare workforce and therefore has a central role in ensuring the protection of health as a fundamental human right. A persistent challenge to achieving this goal is the lack of diversity within the nursing workforce itself; globally 90% of nurses identify as female, 80% of U.S. nurses identify racially as white, and the largest age category of nurses is 65 and older (Smiley et al., J Nurs Regul 12(1):S1–S48, 2021). Furthermore, the American Nurses Association (American Nurses Association, National commission to address racism in nursing, 2021) has identified that the inequities evident within the profession are the result of structural racism that affects not only its composition but also the well-being of all nurses. Diversifying the nursing workforce is not only important to advancing health equity but also fundamental to fulfilling the profession’s moral and ethical obligations of integrity and social justice orientation to both its colleagues and the populations nursing serves. This chapter highlights recommendations from the Future of Nursing 2020–2030 report that focus on diversifying the nursing workforce. The chapter also highlights how the University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Nursing uses student-centered policies to increase, retain, and graduate male-identified students and how the Diversity CRNA program is being used to diversify the CRNA specialty nursing workforce.

Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Conclusion 3.1

A substantial increase in the number, types, and distribution of members of the nursing workforce and improvements in their knowledge and skills in addressing social determinants of health are essential in filling the gaps of care related to sociodemographic and population factors.

Future of Nursing 2020–2030: Recommendation 2.1

Rapidly increase both the number of nurses with expertise in health equity and the number of nurses in specialties with significant shortages, including public and community health, behavioral health, primary care, long-term care, geriatrics, school health, and maternal health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, USA

    Sheldon D. Fields

  2. School of Nursing, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA

    Mitchell J. Wharton

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  1. Sheldon D. Fields
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  2. Mitchell J. Wharton
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Correspondence to Sheldon D. Fields .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sulu Coaching (formerly Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), Cary, NC, USA

    Susan Hassmiller

  2. Professor and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, The George Washington University School of Nursing, Washington DC, WA, USA

    Ashley Darcy Mahoney

  3. Dean and Chief Academic Officer School of Nursing, Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, USA

    Kenya Beard

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Fields, S.D., Wharton, M.J. (2023). Diversifying the Nursing Workforce. In: Hassmiller, S., Darcy Mahoney, A., Beard, K. (eds) The Future of Nursing 2020-2030: Global Applications to Advance Health Equity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29746-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29746-5_3

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