Make Some Noise
Nursing must blow its own horn and promote itself to youth as an attractive career option

I always enjoy the articles related to the nursing shortage and proposed solutions; however, I believe there is a significant failure in the current approach to address the issue.

Work environment and the public perception of who nurses are and what they do need to be addressed. But when the demographics of nursing school graduates are examined, the data reveal that graduates are in their 30s. Nursing must be promoted to the youth of America as a viable career option.

In Phoenix, the Maryvale High School Student Nurse Academy is a collaborative community venture involving the Maricopa Community College District, Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association and its constituents, Grand Canyon University, Arizona Nurses Association, National Black Nurses Association, Hispanic Nurses Association and Sigma Theta Tau. The goal of this effort is to promote professional nursing and provide a mentorship pathway to a successful college education.

This effort displays the world of nursing, volunteering, shadowing RNs, employment opportunities with hospitals and the provision of scholarships and grants for college.

The students meet every Monday to get help with their academics. After tutoring, an RN comes in from the community to share information about their specialty and how they chose to go into that area of nursing. The students have heard from flight nurses, nurse practitioners, ICU RNs, emergency room RNs, hospital administrators, legal nurse consultants, RNs who own health care businesses and a variety of nursing instructors from the nearby colleges and universities. The goal is to demonstrate the depth and breadth of the nursing profession.

Every Thursday, the students take a field trip. Most times, they volunteer at Good Samaritan Hospital where they shadow RNs in all areas of the hospital. Sometimes, the students visit the colleges and universities to meet the nursing instructors and learn what to do and what not to do in the hospital. Field trips are taken every year to observe cardiovascular surgery and neurosurgery, as well as nursing at Disneyland.

Each summer, the students can go to a summer nursing camp sponsored by Grand Canyon University, stay in the dorms and visit other hospitals in the valley.

The academy is competitive. Freshmen apply by writing an essay on why they want to be a nurse and they have to turn in their eighth-grade report card. Students with the best essays, grades and attendance are invited. To remain in the program, good grades and attendance are required, and the students must demonstrate a commitment by not missing the after-school program.

Three years ago, we began with six freshmen and we now have 38 students, all who want to be RNs. The ripple effect has been amazing, with many students expressing a desire to join the academy or seeking information regarding nursing opportunities.

The program has been replicated in other high schools and communities as well. The creation of a mentoring program is a simple investment of time and money. It is imperative that hospitals and health care organizations begin to invest in workforce development.

Without proactive workforce development, the future of nursing and the health care system are in doubt. Workforce development must coincide with workforce change because we don't want the promotional efforts to become a simple brainwashing of the next generation.

Actively promoting what we do works with teens and can be addressed as early as the fifth grade. Systems must be in place to nurture and support the dreams of the students who want to emulate us.

We must proudly promote what we do and change the health care arena, or else we will lose our profession.

Randall Peterson, MSN, RN, is a school nurse at Maryvale High School in Phoenix. He founded the nurse academy and also established a program to provide emergency dental care for indigent students. Peterson was a finalist for NurseWeek's 2002 Nursing Excellence Awards.

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