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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Marie Napolitano, PhD, School of Nursing, Oregon Health & Science University, 9031 SW 42nd Ave, Portland, OR 97219, 503-494-3973, napolitm@ohsu.edu

Recruiting minority individuals into the profession of nursing continues to be a high priority goal that demands action. Nurses have the power to positively influence young persons to the profession by exposing them to our passions for practice, research, and education. One innovative program that provides nurses in Oregon with the opportunity to influence high school students is the Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering (ASE) Program. This program was initiated in 1990 to address the growing concern over the quantity, quality and cultural/gender diversity of the future workforce in the sciences, math, and technology arenas. The health sciences were added in 1993. The ASE program in 2003 received funding from the Northwest Health Foundation to sponsor students that would be linked with nursing professionals. This presenter mentored two minority students for eight full time weeks in 2003 and 2006. The students were exposed to primary care practice as they assisted the presenter with migrant farmworker families in migrant camps in Washington County. They contributed to the evidence regarding the health needs of migrant farmworkers by completing a research project based on data obtained from a mobile van camp program. This presentation will provide an overview of the Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering Program and will describe the students' experiences in more detail including follow-up contact. In addition, a brief overview of the students' research projects will be presented. All involved in the program deemed the experience a success.

Learning Objectives: