Nurse Like Me Mentorship Program: A DNP Approach to Elevating Health Equity

The nursing profession is facing a growing shortage. Although diversity in the nursing profession is improving, unacceptable gaps remain. In addition, post-pandemic study findings show that younger nurses are at a higher risk for leaving the nursing profession, increasing the threats of shortage and diversity beyond what was previously predicted. Nurse shortages and diversity gaps impact our community's health and health equity. The Nurse Like Me (NLM) mentorship project sought to mitigate nurse shortage and improve nurse diversity through the mentoring of diverse high school students interested in nursing by diverse college nursing students with similar interests and or demographics. The project took place over eight weeks between September 2021 and November 2021. During those eight weeks, high school students from a local public school were paired with college nursing students from a NC Historically Black College/University (HBCU) for nurse mentoring. The mentee/mentor pairs met biweekly for a total of four meetings. During the meetings mentors provided general education on the nursing profession, discussed college nursing programs, reviewed nursing service scholarships, and answered mentee questions about nursing. At the end of the eight weeks, the high school mentees showed a significant increase in their interest in college nursing programs, increased awareness of nursing service scholarships, and were satisfied with the program. Feedback from the mentees and mentors all revealed a positive experience with the NLM project. The goals of the project aligned with the goals of Kannapolis City Schools' 2020-2025 Strategic Plan, the North Carolina State Board of Education's 2025 Statewide Strategic Plan, the North Carolina Institute of Medicine's Healthy North Carolina 2030, and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's Enhancing Diversity in the Nursing Workforce fact sheet