While black nurse practitioners are on the rise, there is still a lot of room for improvement in increasing their number in the profession. According to a study, black nurse practitioners are still fewer than other ethnic groups.
The report “Nurse Practitioners in the United States” published by the American Nurses Association revealed that while there are 160,000 NP’s in the country, only 2% are black nurses at present. There are also 11% Asian NPs and 1.2 % Hispanics Practitioners compared to 3.6 % white practitioners. This is because whites have been dominating this field since its inception centuries ago, giving them more time for further expansion into many areas of nursing jobs available, which gives little chance for blacks to get into this career path till now even though they have a better chance of doing the job.
A black nurse practitioner should also be given more support from other health care workers in their field to provide them opportunities for growth and expansion. This gives them a good chance not only for career growth but also to give back whatever they have learned to other members of their race, particularly those interested in this profession. Helping one another is what blacks should learn from other races to apply it for their benefit, especially if whites, Asians, and Hispanics already perfected it a long time ago, which blacks failed to do despite their numerical advantage over these races.
This will help black nurse practitioners make more money than they normally get compared to other nurses with the same qualifications as theirs, which will ultimately improve their financial status. It will also help them adjust better in their profession.
Though it is very challenging for black nurse practitioners to surpass their white colleagues in terms of numbers and presence in the nursing field, they should still hang on and not lose hope. They can do this by proving that they are just as capable as any other nurses who deserve the same pay and work opportunities with other races. It will take a lot of time before blacks can finally conquer all these, but little by little, they’re getting there. Today, there are more black nurse practitioners compared to years back. It is just a matter of time before the number will increase, considering the number of blacks who are taking up nursing courses in colleges and are ready to make a career in this field.
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