Edif or i d

Student nurses recruit minorities for nursing

Student nurses throughout the country are working to bring more young people from minority groups into the nursing profession. Through an innovative program, Project Breakthrough, student nurses are helping blacks, men, and Spanish-speaking and Indian Americans to enroll in nursing schools.

The basic concept of the program is that to improve the delivery of health care to

members of minority groups, it i s necessary to increase their number in the health pro- fessions.

Project Breakthrough is sponsored by the National Student Nurses' Association XNSNA), which has been working to enroll members of minority groups in nursing schools since 1965. For the past two years, Project Breakthrough has been in full-swing under a $100,000 contract from the Division of Nursing, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health, Education and Wel- fare.

With the completion of the two-year pe- riod of federal funding, NSNA has issued a report listing some of the project's con- crete accomplishments.

Minority students have been enrolled in nursing schools through the efforts of stu- dent nurse volunteers. The project has also raised the consciousness of student nurses and nursing educators to the need to en- courage and support enrollment of minority group students.

Project Breakthrough tries to reach minority high school students who might be interested in nursing through publicity cam- paigns, conferences, workshops and career days. Cooperating with local community organizations and nursing schools, student nurse recruiters work with guidance coun- selors and other school officials to identify minority students and motivate them toward a nursing career.

With federal funds, target areas have been set up in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Den- ver, and Columbus, Ohio. These target areas have the benefit of a field representa- tive. In addition, projects were established in 43 other areas without the benefit of federal funding ar a field representative.

In Phoenix, Project Breakthrough recruit- ers from five nursing schools signed up 175

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students interested in nursing at an Urban league tor- fair. Working with these stu- dents, volunteers are helping eighth grad- ers select courses and holding study and counseling sessions for lower high s c h d grades. They are assisting seniors in filling out admission applications and scholarship and loon forms. As a result of these activ- ities, ten students from minority groups were enrolled in schools of nursing in September 1972.

In 10s Angeles, volunteers are concen- trating on recruiting students, involving the community, and stimulating interest among nursing schools and high xhdr Although the Breakthrough recruiten are now coun- seling 125 applicants, overcrowding in Cali- fornia nursing schools is making it harder to gain admission, espeu'ally for minority students. There is also a backlash attitude, according to the report, with resentment toward special treatment for minm'ty stu- dents.

In Denver, m e 30 srudant nurses are taking to junior high d a d students about nuning and involving community organiza- tions and health centem in recruiting nurs- ing students from minon'ty group. Although they have located about 28 students in- terested in nursing casen, mruitwr fed they face an uphill battle. They find that most nursing K h d s in Denver have not established any means to assist minm'ty students b overcome their special problems. h v e r recruiters also find that many stu- dents have poor academic prepamtion and, because of lack of counseling in high school, &dents may not have h e p r q u i r i t e courses needed for entrance into nursing &I. A series of four public service tele- vision annwncembnts being developed will be dmed ot minvrily recruitment and at changing the stereotyped image d nurses and nuning.

In Columbus, student nurse recruiters joined with Nursing Education Opportuni-

ties for a two-day counselors' fair. As a result, they are now counseling 17 high school students and helping others obtain scholorship aid.

What are the problems the volunteer re- cruiters hove had to overcome? One of the largest obstacles, according to the report, is the high school guidance counselor. To make guidance counselors aware of the pmjed's aims, volunteers have held coun- selors' fairs and have tried to meet penon- ally with guidance cwndorr to explain the program.

Obtaining funds for scholarships and tutoring has also been a problem. Some groups have set up scholarships through state student nurse associations; others have raised funds from community resources. Some groups have established their own tutoring programs for Breakthrough candi- dates who needed special help.

At present, approximately 400 nursing student recruiters are working with 75 nurs- ing schools to recruit minority students. Of the recruiters, about one-fourth are from minority groups. Over 20,000 students have been reuched through the program. Most important, over 500 students have been en- rolled into schools of nursing through the direct assistance of the prqect. In addition, 300 are being counseled and encouraged to enter nursing. More generally, the proj- ect has mised the level of awareness among nursing students ond the nursing community to the need for nurses from minority groups. The report states that the persktence of the nursing student recruiters has influenced many reluctant schools to admit minority group students.

Although the two-year funding period has been completed, student nurse volun- teers throughout the country will continue the program. They face tough odds. Al- ready, volunteers have begun to feel the effects of the increasing competition for ad- mission to nursing ~ h o o l r . Why &odd

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schools make a special effort to accept minm'ties who often need special tutoring cmd counding as wall as scholarship help if they already have enough qualified a p pliconts? This is a question recruiters fre- quently hear. They answer this by saying that it is necessary to bring minority group Amen'cans into the health professions to provide adequate health care for minority groups.

Nursing schools may be more reluctant, or even unable, to offer special assistance as a result of the proposed cutbacks in the federal budget for the fiscal year 1974. Budget cuts in the Nurse Training Act mean

that there will be less money available for scholarships for nursing students. Elimina- tion of capitot'on grants to nursing schools may make it more difficult for them to offer special services for minority students.

We hope that despite these tough adds, student nurse volunteen wHI continue their efforts to recruit nursing students from minority groups. And we hope that many of these students being recruited will ac- quire the skills and training to become op- erating room nurses. 0

Elinor S Schrader Editor

Osfeoarfhrifis discussed Ortawrthritis may be the natural outcome of the biological response of bone to stress through the failure of the shock-absorbing qualities of the spongy tissue of the bone in bone joints, Eric 1 Radin, MD, told the American Academy of Ortho- paedic Surgeons.

Dr Radin and co-authors lgor 1 Paul, ScD, and Robert M Rose, ScD, reported their hypothesis in their paper, "Studies of Joint Motion," which was one of three presentations before the Academy to receive a Kappa Delta Research Award. The authors combined their expertise as physician, associate professor of mechan- ical engineering and associate professor of metallurgy and materials sciences to write the paper.

Dr Rodin said the hypothesis was created with the aid of a newly developed experimental model for joint degeneration. The investigators used the equipment to subject the knee joints of rabbits to repeated impulsive loads 60 times per minute for one hour daily. The load was equivalent to the rabbits' body weights.

Each rabbit developed the early changes of degenerative arthritis. The onset of the disemse was particularly marked by the stiffening of the spongy, rhock-absorbing portion of the bone. The investigators think the stiffening is fol- lowed by an increase in stress 00 the articular cartilage, a breakdown of cartilage, and joint degeneration.

He noted that repetitious impact loading from pneumatic drills starts de- generation of the elbows and shoulders, the joints which absorb the pounding. The fingers and wrists are usually not affected, since they are just vibrated. He cited other occupation-related incidences of the degenerative condition. Farmers have an increased incidence of arthritis of the hips; soccer players have severe arthritis of their feet, ankles and knees, and ballet dancers have problems with their feet, he said.

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