Anderson University’s is one of eight nursing schools in Indiana to share in a recent grant of nearly $2.2 million.
The money comes from the Health Resources and Services Administration and is designated to promote health equity.
The grant, to be distributed over four years, was awarded to the Indiana Center for Nursing based on its submission of a replicable strategy of the Nursing Education and Engagement in Diversity Statewide 2B program.
The program can be used by nurses to build a culture of health while collaborating with diverse stakeholders.
Lynn Schmidt, dean of the School of Nursing and Kinesiology at AU, said the nursing workforce must mirror an increasingly diverse U.S. population.
“Increasing diversity in the nursing workforce can serve as a vital strategy to address health inequities,” she said. “Nurses are called on to respond with sensitivity to everyone, regardless of race, disability, socioeconomic status, religion or sexual orientation.”
Officials with the U.S. Census Bureau have long predicted that current minority groups will form the majority of the nation’s population by 2043.