The Health Resources and Services Administration maintains a strong emphasis on increasing the diversity of the health-care workforce through its grant programs. Increasing the diversity of the workforce is important for reducing health disparities in the population caused by socioeconomic, geographic, and race/ethnicity factors because evidence suggests that minority health professionals are more likely to serve in areas with a high proportion of underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups. The data show success in increasing the diversity of enrollees in five nursing programs.
References
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Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Bureau of Health Professions. The rationale for diversity in the health professions: A review of the evidence. Rockville (MD): HHS (US); 2006.
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SmedleyBDStithAYNelsonAR, editors; Institute of Medicine, Committee on Understanding and Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, Board on Health Sciences Policy. Unequal treatment: Confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Washington: National Academies Press; 2003.
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Sullivan Commission on Diversity in the Healthcare Workforce. Missing persons: Minorities in the health professions. Washington: Sullivan Commission; 2004.
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Department of Health and Human Services (US), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. National healthcare disparities report2012. Rockville (MD): HHS; 2013.
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. 2012annual report. Washington: AACN; 2012.
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Department of Health and Human Services (US), Health Resources and Services Administration. The registered nurse population: Findings from the 2008National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses. Rockville (MD): HHS; 2010.
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ChenCPettersonSPhillipsRLMullanFBazemoreAO'DonnellSD, Toward graduate medical education (GME) accountability: Measuring the outcomes of GME institutions. Acad Med2013 Jun 7 [Epub ahead of print].