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The percentage of African American RNs in
Tennessee has increased by a rate of 20 percent in a fourteen-year
period, but they are still under represented in the state’s
professional nursing population by 3.2%, according to a
recent study by the Tennessee Center for Nursing. During
the same period, the percentage of African American LPNs
in Tennessee did not change significantly, and they remain
over represented in vocational nursing by 4.5 percent.
Since an ample supply of African American LPNs exist, helping
them enter RN educational programs makes sense for myriad
reasons, said Ann Duncan, executive director of the Tennessee
Center for Nursing.
“Given the study’s data, it’s clear that
developing a career pathway from LPN educational programs
to RN educational programs would not only increase the supply
of RNs, but would also increase the diversity of the RN
population,” she said. “The large existing supply
of African American LPNs is the opportunity for making that
transition a reality.”
The percentage of African American RNs in Tennessee rose
from 5.9 percent in 1986 to 7.1 percent in 2000, while the
percentage of African American LPNs in the state has hovered
around 14.5 percent during the same fourteen-year period,
according to the study. At the same time, the African American
population over 20 years old in Tennessee held at about
10.3 percent between 1990 and 2001.
“The ranks of African American RNs remain disproportionately
small compared to the state’s African American population
and particularly when compared to the percentage of white
RNs in Tennessee,” Duncan said. “While significant
progress has been made in the recruitment of African American
RNs, there is a substantial gap that must be closed. Engendering
interest and enabling professional growth of LPNs, of whom
a large number are African American, is a crucial step for
increasing the number of professional nurses in Tennessee.”
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