COLUMBUS, Ohio — The United States Registered Nurse Workforce Report Card and Shortage Forecast shows a shortage of nurses is expected to spread throughout the country through 2030.

What You Need To Know

  • Only 20% of registered nurses are nurses of color

  • Six out of 10 nurses of color experience experience some form of racism or discrimination from colleagues

  • 40% of nurses of color experience some form of discrimination in nursing school

Health care systems across the country are experiencing shortages. One of the reasons is the lack of diversity in training and policy. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, only 20% of the registered nurse population was of color in 2022.

Over the past several years, many nurses have left the business due to increased burnout, lack of opportunity and unsafe work conditions. For many nurses of color, they express feeling these issues tenfold due to racial bias in the workplace and in nursing school. 

The problem begins while they are in school for some nurses of color. According to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, around 40% of nurses of color reported that racism and discrimination was part of their nursing school culture. The problem continues throughout their career with about eight out 10 nurses experiencing some sort of racism from patients and six out of 10 of them experiencing racism from their own colleagues.

Katie Boston-Leary serves as the director of Nursing Programs for the American Nurses Association. She said she has experienced bias and prejudice first hand with how policy handles professionalism and hair. 

“I know I went through this personally where I wasn't sure how to wear my hair,” said Boston-Leary. “I knew that I wanted to not do perms and relaxers for a while, but I was afraid to show up with natural hair because I would not be seen the way I would like to be seen and that might impact my ability to advance in my career.”

The lack of diversity in policy and perception not only impacts health care professionals, but also impacts patient care. Organizations around the country are working to give patients of color the proper care, resources and tools they may need to make their stays more comfortable. However, Boston-Leary said that current policy also needs to change. 

“There are even policies with families that also shows some level of bias where when they're people of color, where you have large families, where everyone shows up when someone's unexpectedly admitted to a hospital, and as soon as a large family comes in or a large group comes in, security is called to keep them under control,” said Boston-Leary. “ So those are the things that are hidden in the walls that we have to address.”

In response to stories like this, nurses around the country are addressing the issue from all angles including taking a closer look at standardized testing and educational opportunity on the academic level. Nurses of color are calling for ally ship from their white counterparts in the health care arena. They encourage them to say something when they see something and ask them to change the culture and stigma around not only nurses of color but male nurses as well.