Adtalem brought together educators, employers, and policymakers. Their thought leadership is captured in three peer-reviewed journal articles.
In April 2022, Adtalem Global Education hosted Advancing Equity in Healthcare: A Nursing Summit, which connected a national line-up of healthcare experts, including leaders from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), for discussions centered on access and representation in nursing education.
"We are committed to this dialogue. We will lend our time, our treasure, and our talent to help bring greater equity to healthcare and to help provide access to healthcare professions for people who reflect the breadth of our communities," said President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Beard. “We intend to be part of the solution.”
The critical work from the summit led to three publications in peer-reviewed journals by authors from Adtalem institutions in collaboration with other leaders.
Adtalem’s nursing schools—at Chamberlain University and Walden University—confer more nursing degrees than any other nursing school.
Health Equity Impact of Underfunding at HBCUs
“Promoting Health Equity with HBCUs: Breaking Away from Structural Racism” in Nursing Outlook contextualizes the historical lack of funding at HBCUs and how that impacts racial diversity in the nursing workforce. It also offers three key recommendations: equity in funding, sustainable partnerships, and programs to support racially diverse leaders.
Waite, R., Varghese, J., VanRiel, Y., Shtayermman, O., Ragsdale, B., Perez, A., McCune, N. M., Lindell, A., Holton, C., Ferguson, P., Brown, G., Brewington, J., Boston-Leary, K., & Beard, K. (2023). Promoting health equity with HBCUs: Breaking Away from Structural Racism. Nursing Outlook, 71(2).
Strengthening HBCU Nursing Programs
“No Health Equity Without Diversity: Strengthening Nursing Programs in Historically Black Colleges and Universities” in Creative Nursing reinforces the call for diversification of nursing leadership. The paper advocates “for authentic, sustainable partnerships led by historically Black colleges and universities, as a means to diversify nursing leadership and to stem systemic and structural inequities in health care.”
Waite, R., VanRiel, Y., McCune, N. M., Holton, C., Brown, G., & Boston-Leary, K. (2023). No health equity without diversity: Strengthening nursing programs in historically Black colleges and universities. Creative Nursing, 29(3).
Imagining the Impact of HBCUs
“Centering Health Equity Through the Social Determinants of Health, Interprofessional Collaboration, and Sustainable Partnerships with HBCUs: Imagining Upstream and Downstream Impacts” in Creative Nursing examines barriers to healthcare and the need to teach them as well as the importance of interprofessional collaboration to ensure that nursing students are supported.
Holton, C., Banerjee, S., Morgan, P., McCune, N. M., Cook, A., Thomas, J., & Vesey, A. (2023). Centering health equity through the social determinants of health, interprofessional collaboration, and sustainable partnerships with HBCUs: Imagining upstream and downstream impacts. Creative Nursing, 29(4).
Chamberlain was the No. 1 provider of nursing degrees to minority students in the 2020-21 school year, providing 5% of all nursing degrees to minority students.
Advancing Equity in Healthcare: A Nursing Summit Playlist
Sessions from the summit are available to watch, including:
- “Fireside Chat: Educational Justice and its Impact on Health Equity” with Dr. Karen Cox, president of Chamberlain University, and Dr. Beverly Malone, president and CEO of the National League for Nursing.
- “Academic and Practice Partnerships to Co-Create Innovations to Advance Health Equities” with Dr. Constance Hendricks, president and founder of C & D Enterprise, Inc. Foundation, and Dr. Roberta Waite, dean of the School of Nursing at Georgetown University.
For more information, email the Adtalem Global Communications Team: adtalemmedia@adtalem.com.
