African American and Latinx Adolescents' Perspectives of Nursing as a Career Choice

Background: Ensuring a diverse nursing workforce that closely represents the diversity of the population is imperative for culturally competent and equitable care. To accomplish this, purposeful and strategic programs need to be integrated into secondary education. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perceptions and attitudes about the nursing profession among African American and Latinx adolescents. Method: Four focus group sessions were conducted, and content analysis of the focus group narratives was completed. Results: The majority of the 33 participants were female and 57% were Latinx. The three themes are Nursing Is a Caring Profession But...; Formation of Ideas About Nursing Often Come From Family, Friends, and the Media; and Deterrents to Pursuing Nursing. Conclusion: To decrease health disparities, nursing must address its lack of diversity. Based on these findings, our school of nursing has implemented a summer program for adolescents.