Bridges to the Doctorate in Nursing for Northeastern Ohio

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Health disparities in the US have significant impact on the health of Americans. To successfully address health disparities requires increasing the number of scientists from the groups most commonly impacted by health disparities. As the largest group of health care professionals, nurses and nurse scientists have the potential to improve health disparities yet fewer than 2% of American RNs have PhDs. With the current national initiatives related to chronic diseases, the need for self-management, and ongoing health care reform to include team- based primary care, nurse scientists have the potential to make substantial and significant contributions to the science of improving health and to address health disparities. Yet there are too few nurse scientists, particularly from under-represented (UR) groups. The purpose of this project is to increase the number of nurse scientists from under-represented groups by providing a transitional program, bridging master's nursing students from Cleveland State University (CSU) and Ursuline College (UC) into the PhD program at the Frances Payne Bolton (FPB) School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University. Nursing, as a female predominant discipline, faces additional challenges in attaining PhDs beyond that faced by other scientific disciplines. Within MSN and PhD programs, there are increasing numbers of nurses from minority backgrounds, 29.3% and 27.7%, respectively. Despite this increased educational attainment, Schools of Nursing remain with too few nurse faculty from UR groups: fewer than 12% of nurse faculty come from minority backgrounds. The aims of the 5 year project are to: 1. Identify and recruit 5 cohorts of Bridges participants during their master's degree programs, one cohort (n = 4) in each year, and provide mentored research experience (years 1 through 5) 2. Provide joint mentoring by UC, CSU and FPB to Bridges participants (years 1 through 5) with a focus on identifying and addressing the gaps often experienced by students from UR groups to enhance retention and socialization into academic roles. 3. Admit Bridges student graduates from UC and CSU into PhD study at FPB/Case Western Reserve University. To accomplish these aims, have developed a plan to identify and recruit promising MSN students from UC and CSU who are in the MSN programs. We will select 2 students from CSU and 2 students from UC each year for a total of 20 students over the 5 year period. The Bridges students will then be assigned co-mentors, one from their MSN institution and one from FPB CWRU, and participate in paid mentored research experiences while they complete their MSNs. In addition, each cohort of 4 students will receive tailored programming to assist them in addressing needs and challenges that are specific to students from underrepresented groups.