Now that diversity and inclusion programs can sigh with relief that they are not “unAmerican” after all, we can proceed to celebrate their vital role in encouraging non-Whites to enter the nursing workforce. One of the nursing school champions in this area is Frontier Nursing University, and this year, Dr. Geraldine Young, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, CDCES, FAANP, FNU’s Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, is being recognized as one of the Outstanding Women in Higher Education by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education magazine. This is the 10th consecutive year that Diverse has named 25 women “who have made a difference in the academy by tackling some of higher education’s toughest challenges, exhibiting extraordinary leadership skills, and making a positive difference in their respective communities.” The issue will be published on March 4, 2021, in honor of Women’s History Month.
“I am incredibly honored and humbled to be recognized on this special list of women,” Dr. Young said. “I am thankful to have led the diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at FNU over the past year. As we strengthen our own environment, we have the opportunity to set an example and standard for other institutions to follow. I thank Diverse magazine for this honor and for giving us this platform to inspire others.”
Dr. Young, whose service in the nursing profession spans over 20 years, joined FNU in the fall of 2019. She holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2010), an MSN from Alcorn State University in Mississippi (2005), and a BSN from the University of Mississippi Medical Center (2001). She is also a board-certified family nurse practitioner (FNP) (2005) and a certified diabetes care and education specialist (2011).
Dr. Young is a National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Leadership Fellow and Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (FAANP) and has been deemed a content expert for one of the leading credentialing bodies for NPs, the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). She serves on an array of national committees to advance nurse practitioner education, including the NONPF Curricular Leadership Committee and Conference Committee. She is also a member of the NONPF Board of Directors and a member of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials Task Force.
As a member of the Essentials Task Force and NONPF Board of Directors, Dr. Young is ensuring cultural diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of nursing education to address the health disparities and inequalities that exist in our nation. She has effectively delivered models of clinical practice to improve the outcomes of underserved and minority populations with diabetes in conjunction with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS).
FNU President Dr. Susan Stone, CNM, DNSc, FAAN, FACNM cheered Dr. Young’s “experience and expertise as an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion,” and added, “With the guidance of Dr. Young… we will continue to make diversity, equity, and inclusion a top priority at all levels of the university.”
In each of the past three years, FNU has also received the prestigious Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. The Health Professions HEED Award is the only national honor recognizing U.S. medical, dental, pharmacy, osteopathic, nursing, veterinary, allied health, and other health schools and centers that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion across their campuses.
FNU’s commitment to emphasizing and valuing diversity and inclusion was formally instituted in 2006 when the university began intense efforts to recruit minority students in an effort to diversify the advanced practice nursing and midwifery workforce. FNU’s initial efforts were funded through the support of an Advanced Nurse Education grant from the Health Resources and Service Administration (HRSA). In 2010, FNU held its first annual Diversity Impact Conference. Held each summer since then, the Diversity Impact Conference opens the door for nurse practitioner and nurse-midwifery students plus faculty and staff to foster collaborative discussions, address health disparities, and find proactive solutions to improve minority health among underrepresented and marginalized groups. Today, the goal of a diverse health care workforce continues with efforts to recruit and educate faculty, staff, students, and preceptors and integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts throughout all of FNU operations with a goal that it should be fully integrated into the university’s culture. FNU’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts are currently funded with a Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant from the HRSA.
These diversity initiatives span all facets of the university, but one of the most telling and important data points is the percentage of students of color enrolled at FNU. In 2009, that number was 9 percent. Starting in 2010 with the HRSA funding, FNU’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives have resulted in the percentage of students of color enrolled growing to 25 percent today.
Frontier Nursing University (FNU) was recently awarded the 2018 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine. INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine is the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education, and the HEED Award is a national honor recognizing US medical, dental, pharmacy, osteopathic, nursing, veterinary, allied health, and other health schools and centers that demonstrate outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.
FNU President Dr. Susan Stone tells Frontier.edu, “We are deeply honored to receive the prestigious HEED Award. We believe in the benefits of a diverse university and in the positive impacts our diverse graduates can make in communities across the country. Our graduates serve people of all races and cultures and are increasingly coming from diverse backgrounds. It is imperative that our students, faculty and staff have cultural awareness and competency in order to effectively advance our mission of servant leadership. We have demonstrated our ongoing commitment to diversity by implementing programs and structure to ensure we reach our goals. The HEED Award is a validation of those efforts and provides additional inspiration to maintain our commitment to achieving and exceeding our diversity and inclusion goals.”
FNU will be featured in the December 2018 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine along with 34 other higher education institutions. FNU was awarded for the implementation of its FNU PRIDE Initiative (Promoting Recruitment and Retention to Increase Diversity in Nurse-Midwifery and Nurse Practitioner Education) in 2010 which spearheaded targeted recruitment activities and increased student of color enrollment from 9% in 2010 to 23% in 2018.
The university has also held three annual Diversity Impact Student Conferences to ensure that nurse practitioners and nurse midwives understand the challenges and opportunities offered by diversity in rural and underserved healthcare systems. To further demonstrate ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, FNU created a Chief Diversity Inclusion Officer (CDIO) position in 2017 and appointed Dr. Maria Valentin-Welch to that office.
To learn more about Frontier Nursing University being awarded the 2018 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, visit here.
The UR School of Nursing is one of 11 schools of nursing across the country to be awarded the national honor which recognizes US medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing, osteopathic, and allied health schools that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion. The university will be featured in the December 2018 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education.
Kathy Rideout, EdD, PPCNP-BC, FNAP, dean of the University of Rochester School of Nursing and vice president of the University of Rochester Medical Center, tells URMC.Rochester.edu, “Our sustained commitment to cultivating a culture of diversity and inclusion is reflected – among other ways – in our student body and their soaring graduation rates, putting us at the vanguard among our peers in higher education.”
The UR School of Nursing is comprised of a diverse student body with its most recent class of 66 students in the Accelerated Bachelor’s Program for Non-Nurses coming from across the US as well as from Kenya, Guyana, India, Cameroon, England, and South Korea. Thirty percent of those students are from underrepresented groups, and 21 percent are male, more than two times the national average of men in the nursing workforce.
To learn more about the University of Rochester School of Nursing’s diversity initiatives and recent Excellence in Diversity Award, visit here.
California State University LA’s School of Nursing has been chosen as a recipient of the 2016 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award. As a recipient of the award, Cal State LA will be featured in the December 2016 issue of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, recognizing their success in fostering diversity and inclusion in the School of Nursing.
INSIGHT’s annual Health Professions HEED award recognizes medical, dental, pharmacy, osteopathic, nursing, and allied health schools in the United States that demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The School of Nursing at Cal State LA is in the Rongxiang Xu College of Health and Human Services and houses 500 undergraduate nursing students, 175 graduate students, and 10 tenure-track faculty members. All programs in the School of Nursing are approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The graduate nursing program offers options in nursing education, and nurse-practitioner options in primary and acute adult, family, and psychiatric/mental health. There are also Post master’s certificates available in each nurse practitioner option.
Cal State LA President William A. Covino says, “This award demonstrates that excellence and diversity go hand in hand.” As one of only two public universities in Southern California, Cal State LA’s nursing faculty and students proudly represent the diverse communities they serve.
INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine is the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education, and they hold high standards for their institutions selected for the HEED Award. Using a holistic selection process, the comprehensive application includes questions about recruitment, retention, and continued leadership support for diversity and inclusion across an institution’s campus. You can view the 31 schools selected to receive the 2016 Health Professions award here.
INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine has chosen the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON) to receive a 2016 Health Professions Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award. INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine is the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education and recognizes US nursing, medical, dental, pharmacy, osteopathic, and allied health schools. JHSON will be featured in the December 2016 issue of the magazine, demonstrating their outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Patricia Davidson, PhD, MEd, RN, FAAN, Dean of JHSON, says that advancing and supporting a culture of diversity and inclusion are top priorities at her school. The students and faculty at JHSON bring their own unique experiences, cultures, and views, and they are respected and valued by all members at the school.
31 percent of students and 23 percent of faculty at JHSON are racial or ethnic minorities. JHSON provides opportunities for students and faculty to develop and implement programs and partnerships that strengthen their inclusive environment through a school-wide diversity taskforce. Some of those programs include LGBTQ Life at Hopkins and the Office of Multicultural Affairs.
The HEED Award involves a comprehensive and rigorous application including questions about recruitment and retention of students and employees, leadership support, and campus diversity and inclusion initiatives. INSIGHT says their standards are high because they want to choose institutions where diversity and inclusion are a part of the work being accomplished daily across a campus.
