Could Introducing Nursing in Elementary School Help the Shortage?

The nursing shortage is a long-standing problem, and one proposed fix starts earlier than most: introduce nursing to children in elementary school. Programs like the Mini Nurse Academy are testing whether early exposure, aimed at students from underrepresented communities, can build interest in the field, broaden who becomes a nurse, and improve health outcomes for a diverse population.

Career Exploration in Elementary School

Career education is common in high school, but experts argue it can start much earlier. With attention to children's developmental stages, educators can help elementary students explore career concepts and begin thinking about their futures.

Early Career Introduction

Alisha Hyslop, senior director of public policy for the Association for Career and Technical Education, has described the benefits of early career exploration. Helping children grapple with career concepts young, she says, helps them "make decisions about educational and career possibilities as they get older." Some schools already specialize: third graders at A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School of Engineering in Greenville, South Carolina, are introduced to engineering. Experts note that even preschoolers can understand the concept of work, and children who see careers modeled by caregivers, teachers, and community members start picturing what they want to be.

Child Development Influence

Jennifer Curry, PhD, a school counselor education professor at Louisiana State University, ties career exploration to the stages of child development. "Like any area of development, career development is sequential and builds over time," she writes. Kindergarten and first-grade students can be introduced to the idea of career options. Second and third graders can grasp career pathways. The fourth and fifth-grade years, she argues, are crucial: children this age can understand that learning is lifelong and begin to investigate and select a career.

Implementation of Training Programs

Several elementary schools have built career training into their curricula. General George Meade Elementary School in Philadelphia piloted the Mini Nurse Academy (MNA) to introduce students to nursing, and the school has reported positive results. Students learn the curriculum and practice hands-on skills, and they come away with a real sense of what a nurse does. The MNA focuses on children from underrepresented communities, aiming to diversify the future workforce at its foundation.

How the Mini Nurse Academy Aims to Increase Diversity

The Mini Nurse Academy is a national program created by the National Black Nurses Association (NBNA). It introduces nursing as a career to children in grades three through six who live in predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods.

Danaya Hall, RN, MSN, WHNP-BC, founding president of the Alliance of Black Nurses Association of Oregon and an MNA committee member, has helped develop the curriculum since the program's start. The content is culturally specific, she says, and while it covers general nursing concepts, it also addresses the history of nursing and the influence of racism on healthcare.

Career modeling is the other half of the strategy. Children interact with Black nursing professionals, and that early exposure to a diverse group of nurses, including men in nursing, gives them a model to see themselves in.

The Benefits of Introducing Nursing Early

Early exposure to nursing can help children's career development, the profession, the healthcare system, and the health of the nation. Here are three ways.

More Interest in Nursing as a Career

Nursing does not appear among the top 10 jobs children say they want when they grow up, though doctors have long made the list. Curry argues children should meet a wide range of workers young, and nurses belong on that list alongside doctors, firefighters, teachers, and police officers. Hall points to children's natural curiosity. Through the MNA, she says, students develop "wonder regarding the expansive professional landscape of nursing." Introduced through career days, field trips, or programs like the MNA, nursing could grow in popularity and, over time, bring more people into the workforce.

Better Representation in Nursing

Early training can reach children from communities the field rarely represents. Many children do not have a nurse in the family, and Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) children in particular may never have considered nursing as an option. Hall says MNA activities help BIPOC children picture themselves as future nurses. "This is how health equity, reduction of the nursing shortage, and diversification of the nursing profession is achieved," she explains. She hopes to see the MNA embedded in school curricula with a year-round residency.

The disparity is real. According to a 2021 American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) survey, 11% of students who graduated from a baccalaureate nursing program in 2020 were Black or African American, a figure that had declined over the prior decade. That number excludes associate degree and LPN/LVN graduates, but the gap holds: all racial and ethnic minorities together made up less than 35% of graduates. Some schools are responding through changes in recruitment, testing policy, and program design. Elementary programs like the MNA could help by reaching underrepresented children years earlier.

Better Health Outcomes for Diverse Communities

Representation matters for fairness in hiring, but it matters more for care. A diverse workforce is vital for a diverse population. Some minority groups carry a long-standing mistrust of the healthcare system rooted in historical and perceived discrimination, and that mistrust can keep people from seeking care or following recommendations, which worsens outcomes.

Jamil Norman, PhD, RN, CNE, a nursing faculty member at Walden University, notes that patients are most comfortable seeking care when they can identify and communicate with their healthcare team. Hall puts it directly: "BIPOC nurses are vital in earning trust among marginalized communities that have never experienced confidence in healthcare." Those nurses, she adds, "have the power to heal the historic transgressions of our medical past through cultural representation, employment in a wide range of workforce settings, and allyship among non-BIPOC nurses."

Diversity in nursing improves care. Programs that diversify the workforce are essential to better outcomes in underrepresented communities. Introducing nursing to young children, paired with early exposure to a diverse group of nurses, is a long-term play against the shortage and toward a more balanced workforce.