Printer FriendlyThe BDN project seeks to recruit, retain and graduate high-quality minority and economically disadvantaged nursing students. The project activities center on four areas: pre-entry initiatives, rigorous retention efforts, faculty and community support and mentoring, and continued feedback and monitoring.
With the goal of assisting qualified minority/disadvantaged students in becoming professional nurses, the BDN project provides access for minority and/or disadvantaged students into the nursing profession through pre-entry and recruitment efforts that reach out to local middle and high schools; rigorous retention efforts that provide a tailored college educational experience that includes a well-coordinated mentoring system, counseling services, technology and financial support.
The BDN objectives are to: (1) improve access to the nursing profession by recruiting minority and disadvantaged students through pre-entry initiatives at the middle and high school levels, (2) increase culturally responsive and high quality health care by graduating a diverse nurse who provides nursing services to diverse populations, (3) demonstrate the efficacy of a rigorous student nurse retention program, (4) enhance faculty knowledge of and sensitivity to cultural competency, student support, and diversity in under-represented, at-risk student, and (5) provide stipends, scholarships, and educational technologies to qualified minority/disadvantaged students who are accepted to and successfully progress in the BDN project.