Nursing Program Awarded Nursing Workforce Diversity Grant for Hawaiian and Samoan Students

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Jul 18, 2001

The Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration has awarded the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene (SONDH) approximately $385,000 over the next three years for a nursing workforce diversity project. The project, "Nursing Careers for Hawaiian and Samoan Students," will provide Hawaiian and Samoan (or otherwise disadvantaged) persons with access to the SONDH through a program of recruitment, academic assistance, and educational support.

Hawaiians and Samoans are not represented proportionately in the SONDH student body. Based on 2000 data, Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders comprise 14 percent of the State‘s population. Currently, 6 percent of UH Manoa nursing students are Hawaiian or part Hawaiian and there are no Samoan students enrolled.

Baccalaureate level education will provide students with the skills necessary to assume service and leadership roles in healthcare delivery and substantial preparation for graduate education. In addition to providing culturally sensitive care to Hawaiʻi‘s people, graduates of the project can serve as role models for future students. The project will provide for an outreach program to high school students, rigorous orientation for incoming students, financial aid counseling and assistance, mentoring, and student stipends.

Dr. Lois Magnussen, Associate Professor and Director of the SONDH‘s Office of Student Services since 1996, will be the project director. She has over 20 years of experience as a nursing faculty and administrator within the UH system.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene has been educating nurses since 1932 in an effort to meet the healthcare needs of Hawaiʻi‘s diverse population.