Nursing Scholarship

The American nursing industry highly encourages the involvement of minority members in the nursing profession, generally in support of the increased demand for medical care among the growing elderly population in the country, and specifically to cater to the needs of demographic patients composed of immigrants and their second or third-generation family members. Among minority groups from the two million nurses in America today, about 5% are African-Americans, 3.7% are Asians, 2% are Hispanics while 0.5% are Native Americans.

Some nursing schools in the U.S. have started to revise their curriculum by introducing courses that address cultural differences when responding to health care needs of minority patients, including learning a minority language. Still, nurses coming from diverse social and cultural backgrounds are proven to have a better patient-health care provider relationship with demographic patients sharing their language, beliefs, mores and norms.

Minority nursing scholarships is an important program where the United States can successfully increase minority group members in the labor force, bridging the “achievement gap” among its residents and at the same time, striking a balance between the growing demand and actual service available in the area of health care. For health care institutions, minority group nurses can greatly expand their presence in communities with large demographic profiles but limited access to hospitals and health facility due to barriers like language.

Various nursing scholarships available for minorities include annual scholarships from $500 to $2,000 from the the National Black Nurses Association; member-grants for nursing students from the National Association of Hispanic Nurses; March of Dimes Nursing Scholarship for both African-American and Hispanic minorities; Indian Health Service Scholarship for American-Indians or natives of Alaska; and the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program.