Charting a Course to a More Diverse Nursing Workforce: CompassRN Helps Students See What’s Possible
At an early age, Renée Omoyeni was captivated by the nurses she saw on television. Whether the depictions were fictional or in a reality series (her favorite was A Baby Story on TLC), 13-year-old Renée realized that nursing was something she instinctively wanted to do.
“I would go to the library and check out books or videos about nursing,” she said, “but I never had an opportunity to talk to a nurse to find out, ‘What do you actually do? What should I be doing right now so that I can become a nurse? What advice do you have for someone like me?’”
Even without the benefit of early counsel from a practicing nurse, Omoyeni became one in
2010. By then she had recognized some of the elements that would have been helpful to her professional journey — such as academic support, access to resources, and mentorship. She decided to meet those needs for other hopeful nurses by creating CompassRN.
CompassRN nurtures the development of nurses from underserved and underrepresented communities. This nonprofit fosters interest in the nursing profession and equips students with the knowledge, confidence and support to pursue nursing careers.
The current nursing workforce does not reflect the diversity of the U.S. population
CompassRN’s mission is vital because the nursing workforce has not kept pace with the increasing diversity of the U.S. population. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), as well as other organizations, have called attention to the need for greater ethnic, cultural and economic representation. In its fact sheet on this initiative, AACN reports that:
- more than 40% of the U.S. population identify as people of color
- minority populations are projected to become the majority by 2045.
The 2024 National Sample Survey of Nurses, published by the Health Resources and Services Administration, illustrates this need (see table). Although this report shows that the nursing workforce has become more diverse over the past 15 years, underrepresentation remains a problem that healthcare organizations seek to solve.
Achieving a more diverse nursing workforce has the potential to reduce health disparities in minority populations. Research shows that minority patients often receive lower quality healthcare compared to nonminority patients.
The Association for Health Research Quality reports that “a large body of research shows that compared with the White population, racial and ethnic minority groups experience disparities in access to care and healthcare quality, including effectiveness of treatment, timeliness, patient safety, and preventive screening.”
Diversity in healthcare teams is linked to improved communication between patients and providers. For example, a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine in 2023 found that racial concordance between patients and their providers helped increase patient satisfaction and improve the use of services (Ku, 2023).
CompassRN strives to identify and develop nurses from minority backgrounds
As Omoyeni experienced as a first-generation college student, the path to becoming a nurse can be challenging for underrepresented and minority populations.
“The steps in the process of getting into nursing school felt overwhelming to me,” she said. “Not being prepared for college and not having a clear route to becoming a nurse forced me to figure things out by myself.”
To help prospective students navigate the complex path to nursing school, CompassRN addresses these core needs:
- access to information about nursing and people working as nurses
- education about the importance of academic preparation for nursing school
- information about applying to nursing school and resources for preparation
- motivation and mentorship from prenursing through nursing school graduation.
“I wanted to develop an organization that could provide all things nursing to students no matter what part of their journey they're in — to be able to really connect them to nursing and inspire them,” she said.
“I think if I would have had that inspiration along with the motivation, it would have propelled me in a better direction to further apply myself,” she said. “Even though I didn't have the support to go into college, I could have looked for that support in a different avenue and found resources.”
The 3-part mission of CompassRN: Awareness, Access and Mentorship
To increase awareness about the opportunities in nursing, CompassRN provides career information sessions at schools and career fairs in Texas, where Omoyeni lives and CompassRN is based. (She plans a national reach for CompassRN in the future.) For students who express interest in nursing based on the information sessions, CompassRN sets up access for them to see firsthand the variety of roles and responsibilities in nursing. Students who decide they want to pursue nursing school then get connected with experienced nurses who build and sustain a relationship through the student’s nursing education journey.
The mentorship portion of the program is vital, Omoyeni said, because it helps students become academically stronger, develop professional practices and behaviors, and overcome obstacles on their path to success.
“This program so much more than just exposing them to nursing; it's showing that there are people out here who maybe you can relate to who did it,” Omoyeni said. “They're successful and they want to push you to do it too.”
Since Omoyeni founded the nonprofit in 2021, CompassRN has connected nearly 400 middle and high school students in 14 Texas school districts to the field of nursing. Many of these future nurses have attended a CompassRN Nursing Camp. This event began as a 1-day session held on various nursing campuses and grew to a 3-day event at a single venue in 2024. The camp attendees incur no out-of-pocket costs thanks to the support of donations, sponsorships, and in-kind donations from community partners.
Preparing students for the admissions process and the academic rigor of a nursing program
One of CompassRN’s partners is ATI Nursing Education, developer of the most recognized admission evaluation resource for prelicensure nursing programs, the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS). Tiffini Turner, a Client Executive for ATI in the Texas region, has been an invited speaker at the past two CompassRN Nursing Camps. During her presentations, Turner shares information about the admission process and why many nursing programs require evaluations such as the TEAS.
“Through this opportunity with CompassRN, I am able to create awareness about nursing admission requirements and share information about how the students strengthen their knowledge in the areas of applied math, anatomy and physiology, and study skills,” Turner said. “These areas are the top three identified as reasons students are not successful during their first year.”
During the 2024 CompassRN Nursing Camp, Turner also showed attendees how to navigate a college website to find admissions information, and shared examples of dosage calculation questions and anatomy and physiology questions they will encounter on admission assessments such as the TEAS.
“We also discussed the importance of them identifying their personal learning style and adapting their study plans to their individual needs,” she said. Turner also explained the components of the TEAS and provided practical ways for students to practice for this exam.
Turner said many of the students’ questions center around study resources and where they can obtain practice materials (free options are available here). As a result of her presentations and follow-up Q&A, many attendees realized that the content of the advanced math and science classes they are taking in high school is not necessarily the applied math and anatomy and physiology they will need to be successful in their first year of nursing school. That realization prompted some of them to select different math and science courses in the final years of high school.
Turner said sharing practical information about nursing school admission is an important component of CompassRN’s mission. Without it, many students would not know how to navigate this complex process.
“CompassRN Nursing Camps are contributing to a more diverse and prepared nursing workforce by providing access and information,” Turner said. “Many camp attendees are first-generation college students and are doing this on their own. At the camps, they get access to recruiters from several colleges and presentations from companies like ATI. This will help them understand the best way to achieve their goals.”
Turner also sees benefits for academic programs and for the communities that will eventually be served by these new nurses.
“The nursing camps are providing local colleges with insight into what the students need coming in and how to best support them,” Turner said. “This helps programs identify emerging trends and how to address them. It really is a benefit to the entire community.”
CompassRN provides ongoing support and mentorship to ensure success
CompassRN programs can be especially impactful for students who are first-generation college students or who don’t have a strong home support system.
“Sometimes we’re encouraging students who may not have anyone else encouraging them,” Omoyeni said. “That is the biggest piece for me — seeing students I see myself in. If I had a program like this when I was their age, my journey would have looked completely different.”
After students attend a nursing camp, they have an option to continue receiving resources and support. When they register in the portal on the CompassRN website, “students can see the faces of other students, post events, and have conversations with nurses,” Omoyeni said. “They can also access information from the schools of nursing that came to our camp. It's a way for them to remain connected and send us messages.”
Since the first camp in 2022, several students have remained connected with CompassRN. “They volunteer at the camps and attend events they are interested in,” Omoyeni said. “I love being able to see each student’s progression from high school student to nurse.”
These aspiring nurses are matched with with CompassRN mentors who provide consistent information, communication and encouragement. One of these students, Arianda, began her journey with CompassRN at age 17, when she attended the inaugural nurse camp in 2022. She is now a nursing student at the University of St. Thomas.
In a YouTube video featuring CompassRN Nurse Camp attendees, Arianda described the importance of the camp experience: “… we need this help as first-generation and low-income, underresourced students. This is a really good opportunity for us to explore different careers and see if this what I really want to do.”
At the 2024 CompassRN Nursing Camp, Omoyeni said Arianda spoke to attendees about the impact of the mentorship experience: “My CompassRN family has been a huge support system since my senior year in high school, when I attended the summer nurse camp two years ago! My mentors in this program have inspired me to pursue a career in nursing.”
Expanding the reach of CompassRN and building a direct pipeline to employers
Omoyeni’s vision for CompassRN continues to expand — a direct result of the support and encouragement she is receiving from the nursing education community and from employers who recognize the importance of the organization’s mission. She’d like to build a direct pipeline to healthcare systems for CompassRN students and to expand the Nursing Camps and mentorship opportunities nationwide.
“I would love for CompassRN in to be a one-stop organization and resource for students all over the country,” she said. “I see it being a national organization that provides inspiration and support.
“I’d like for healthcare systems to be able to look at the resume of a CompassRN student and know that student was supported and inspired, and will be motivated,” she continued. “They’ll have characteristics developed by CompassRN that will make employers want to hire them in a heartbeat because they we know this nurse will be great.”
To support the work of CompassRN or to volunteer as a nurse mentor, visit https://compassrn.org/supporting-compassrn/
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Racial and ethnic minorities. https://www.ahrq.gov/topics/racial-ethnic-minorities.html
Ku, L., Vichare, A. The Association of Racial and Ethnic Concordance in Primary Care with Patient Satisfaction and Experience of Care. Journal of General Internal Medicine. (2023), 38, 727-732. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-022-07695-y