Schenita Randolph, associate professor, co-presented during Nursing Education for the Next Generation of Minority Nurses on August 6 from 8 to 10 a.m. She presented "Developing Black Nurse Scientists: The Undeniable Role of HBCUs" with Dawn Aycock, of Georgia State University, Kamila Alexander, of Johns Hopkins University, and Fawn Cothran, of Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis.

To an audience of 75 attendees, Randolph and colleagues, who are all members of the inaugural cohort of the Betty Irene Moore Fellowship and graduates of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), highlighted the undeniable role of HBCUs in developing nurse leaders and nurse scientists.

The pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism highlighted health inequities that have existed for decades among Black communities. Nurses are positioned to address these health inequities through innovative ideas and research. More specifically, Black nurses, because of their shared lived experience, understand socio-structural factors underpinning health inequities and how to best engage with Black communities. However, only eight percent of Black nurses make up the overall nursing workforce, and far fewer are nurse scientists. Historically black colleges and universities can offer critically important options for success in addressing the dearth of Black nurse scientists working across sectors and contributing to rich academic milieu, informing innovative national policy, and creating impactful practice. They described the role of HBCUs in catalyzing national thought leadership and discuss challenges and strategies to promote research careers at HBCUs to attract Black nurse scientists into the workforce.