The program has graduated professional nurses from historically underrepresented populations since 2010, helping improve health equity
The University of Rhode Island College of Nursing welcomed its largest group of students in the Pathways to Nursing program for the fall 2024 semester. The program is increasing opportunities for students and furthering the significant impact it has made in helping diversify the nursing workforce while improving individual and community health.
Sixty URI students are involved in the program for the 2024-25 academic year, the college’s largest cohort, according to program director, Clinical Associate Professor Diane DiTomasso. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funds the Pathways to Nursing Program to support students from historically underrepresented populations. Aiming to reduce health care inequalities and achieve health equity by increasing diversity in the nursing workforce, the program provides students with resources and support to attain bachelor’s degrees in nursing.
“Pathways helps to provide students with diverse backgrounds support while they pursue a career in nursing,” DiTomasso told the group during a welcome ceremony Sept. 17. “The goal is not only to support our talented students here at URI, but also to increase diversity in the nursing profession so we can take better care of all our patients.”
While strides have been made to increase diversity in the nursing workforce, only 19.4 percent of registered nurses in the country identify as being from a minority background, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. That rate is less than half of the 40 percent of the U.S. population that identify as people of color, according to U.S. Census Bureau statistics.
“Nursing’s leaders recognize a strong connection between a culturally diverse nursing workforce and the ability to provide quality, culturally competent patient care,” according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. “Though nursing has made great strides in recruiting and graduating nurses that mirror the patient population, more must be done before adequate representation becomes a reality. The need to attract students from underrepresented groups is a high priority for the nursing profession.”
While the diversity ratio is closer in nursing colleges across the country, with students from minority backgrounds representing about 40 percent of students in entry-level baccalaureate programs, more is needed to achieve greater diversity and representation in the profession. URI is playing a substantial role in the effort. Over the program’s 14 years at URI, dozens of new nurses from underrepresented communities have graduated and joined the workforce.
DiTomasso is continually working to recruit new students into the Pathways program, visiting middle schools and high schools across Rhode Island, where she and URI students tout the fulfillment of playing a substantial role in the nation’s health and well-being, as well as the opportunities and supports available to students in the Pathways program at URI:
- Peer and community support
- Activities that enhance academic achievement
- Career success initiatives
- Financial and other resource support
For more photos from the event on Sept. 17, visit the College’s Facebook page. For more information on the Pathways to Nursing program or to apply to be a student in the program, contact DiTomasso at dditomasso@uri.edu.