Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Education: Understanding the Perspective of Racial-Ethnic Minority Nurse Anesthesia Students

Author

Lorette osun, Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleFollow
Jeannette Ineza, Southern Illinois University EdwardsvilleFollow

Date of Award

Spring 5-25-2023

Document Type

DNP Project

Project Team Faculty Member

Kevin Stein

Project Team Faculty Member

Leah Baecht

Keywords

DEI, Diversity, Nurse Anesthesia, Racial-Ethnic Minority Students, SRNA Experiences

Abstract

The idea that race is not an issue, everyone is treated fairly, and the denial of racial differences is an act to refute that racism still perpetuates nursing education. Racial-ethnic minority student registered nurse anesthetists (SRNA) face unique challenges in their didactic and clinical training, including microaggressions, discrimination, and bias, all of which white students do not have to face during their educational experiences (Carter & McMillian-Bohler, 2020). Our project sought to highlight the lived experiences of ethnic minority student registered nurse anesthetists in the United States to bring awareness and effectuate change in nurse anesthesia education. Our Qualtrics survey link was emailed to nurse anesthesia faculty to forward to their students. The survey contained Likert style and open-ended questions. There were 371 respondents, and 130 racial-ethnic minority students completed 100% of the survey,101 racialethnic minority students did not complete the survey, and 140 students self-identified as Caucasian. Data were collected from participants who self-identified as racial-ethnic minority students and completed the entire survey (n=130). A total of 241 participants were excluded from the statistical analysis. Of the responses received, 61% of ethnic minority SRNAs felt isolated in clinical based on ethnicity, and 61% felt that preceptors judged their skills or intelligence based on race. Understanding the experiences of non-white SRNAs while navigating the educational system will allow the administration and faculty to understand the experiences that students of color have in the nurse anesthesia program and be able to better support them in the categories of mentorship and preceptor relationships

Recommended Citation

osun, Lorette and Ineza, Jeannette, "Diversity in Nurse Anesthesia Education: Understanding the Perspective of Racial-Ethnic Minority Nurse Anesthesia Students" (2023). Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects. 276.
https://spark.siue.edu/dnpprojects/276

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