Supporting ethnic and cultural diversity in nursing staff.

Especially in California, there is a growing need to match the ethnic and cultural profiles of nurses and patients. Two Bay Area healthcare programs pooled financial and human resources to develop long-range strategies aimed at increasing the number of minority graduate nurses. Included were a work-study program, a Russian immigrant nurse training program and a scholarship program for minority students. A Cultural Diversity Enhancement Committee is very active and various educational offerings have emerged from the Nursing Education and Research Department.