Nursing scholarships offered, racism and health study: Seacoast health news
HCA Healthcare Capital Division offers $800K in nursing scholarships
ROCHESTER, DERRY, AND PORTSMOUTH – HCA Healthcare Capital Division, which includes Frisbie Memorial Hospital, Parkland Medical Center, and Portsmouth Regional Hospital, is offering $800,000 in scholarships for students to pursue nursing careers in central and southwest Virginia, and New Hampshire. The funds will support the path to becoming a licensed practical/vocational nurse or a registered nurse within HCA Healthcare.
“The nationwide nursing shortage continues to challenge the healthcare industry,” said Erin Keister, HCA Healthcare Capital Division chief nursing executive. “With more than 98,000 nurses throughout our organization, we are one of the largest employers of nurses in the United States and we know that education is key to excellence. We are proud to do our part and tackle this shortage starting in Virginia and New Hampshire, where we operate 17 facilities.”
The scholarships are eligible for nursing students who are currently enrolled in a Board of Nursing-accredited program. The LPN/LVN scholarships are $7,000 per student and the RN scholarships are $14,000. There is a one-year full-time employment commitment in an HCA Healthcare facility upon completion. Candidates are also eligible for sign-on bonuses at the time of hire.
HCA Healthcare has been working to fill gaps in the nursing workforce through a combination of programs including recruiting incentives, retention programs, and the opening of the Galen College of Nursing Richmond campus earlier this year.
For more information and to apply for a scholarship, please visit: https://form.jotform.com/222085746874062.
Study led by Dartmouth Health neurologist states racism to blame for unequal health outcomes for Black Americans
LEBANON – Across the United States, Black people face disproportionate negative health outcomes in numerous areas compared to white people. This includes neurology: Black Americans suffer excessive morbidity and mortality compared with white Americans, including poor outcomes across a range of neurologic conditions. While historically, it was believed that health inequities in neurology, or “neurodisparities,” can be because of difference in race, it is now understood that race is a socially-defined construct with little genetic validity.
A new study led by neurologist Nathaniel M. Robbins, MD, at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC), recently published in the journal Neurology, found that neurodisparities in the Black community are the result of structural racism in the field of neurology. Robbins and his research team, which included DHMC neurologist James L. Bernat, MD, state that neurologists are ethically and professionally obligated to actively counteract racism, and issued a call for neurologists and neurologic organizations to fight racism and work towards health equity in neurology.
“Understanding that neurodisparities stem largely from racism is a first step,” Robbins said. “Neurologists must then understand the clinical, ethical, and professional reasons why we are obligated to move beyond awareness and toward active antiracist countermeasures.”
Compared with white patients, Black patients have poorer access to neurologic care and worse outcomes in areas including stroke, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, dementia and headache, the article states. In addition to these high rates of neurologic disease and disorder, Black Americans are also underrepresented in neurologic research, the neurologic workforce, and in academic leadership positions.
Robbins and his co-researchers urge fellow neurologists to take several steps in order to be actively antiracist in their practice. They include rejecting the concept of “color blindness,” as it encourages ignoring transgressions and disparities Black people face; embracing the trained ability to identify upstream structural drivers of health, also called structural competency; identifying and fixing policies that encourage unequal delivery of care; and striving to improve critical self-awareness of their own identity in society and the associated advantages and disadvantages.
The study also addresses how antiracist practices can be applied in neurologic practice, education, research and policy.
“Black Americans have been subject to inequity and injustice since their ancestors were first forcibly brought to this continent,” Robbins said. “As neurologists, it is our role to provide all of our patients with the best care possible. When it comes to marginalized groups like the Black community, active antiracism is critical to providing the best care. The neurology community has a duty to break down neurodisparities, and antiracist efforts must be embraced by all neurologists.”
This study was funded by the Swigart Clinical Ethics Fellowship through the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. To read the full research article, visit: https://n.neurology.org/content/99/3/106.
This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Nursing scholarships offered, racism and health study: Seacoast health news
