Bloomington’s District 87 is launching a new program this spring to tackle staffing and diversity issues in nursing.
The Mini Nurse Academy is an after-school program designed to teach 20 Irving Elementary students the ins and outs of being a nurse. The program will last four weeks with students — in grades 3-6 — learning everything from how to perform CPR to the dangers of vaping, and what classes to take in high school for success in the field.
The program is hosted by the Black Nurses Association (BNA) of Central Illinois and funded by grant money from the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA).
District 87 Assistant Superintendent Sherri Thomas thinks there’s benefit to showing children at a young age what career paths they can explore.
“You’re going to have some students obviously who are interested in nursing and already kind of have that in the back of their head, but you’re going to have other students who maybe previously didn’t consider it, and now as a result of being part of this academy will go that route,” she said.
Lack of exposure to nursing isn’t the only issue fueling nursing staff shortages, but it is a factor, said Thomas.
Diversity in nursing remains an issue; less than 8% of more than four million registered nurses are Black, and fewer than 27% of nurses belong to a minority group, according to the NBNA. Increasing diversity in the field is a way to address the shortage of nurses, said Thomas.
“When a student sees someone who looks like them in that role, then that would be something that they would be then willing to consider,” Thomas said.
Irving Elementary has one of the most diverse student populations in District 87 with a Black student population of 36%, according to the latest Illinois School Report Card.
Thomas hopes the new program can continue in future years, depending on interest, funding, and availability of nurses.
