Building nursing research capacity to address health disparities: Engaging minority baccalaureate and master's students

Abstract

In order to decrease health disparities, nursing needs to promote opportunities for minority nursing students to incorporate the conduct, as well as the utilization, of research into their professional careers. This article describes a model program to facilitate minority research career development, the Research Enrichment and Apprenticeship Program (REAP). REAP was developed and implemented by a federally funded partnership between 2 historically Black universities and a research-intensive university. Fifty-five (N = 55) baccalaureate and master's nursing students and 35 faculty members from the 3 schools participated in an intensive research mentorship program guided by learner-centered pedagogical approaches that culminated in the public presentation of students' research projects at a scientific poster session. Student, faculty, and institutional achievements, as well as challenges, were identified and addressed as the partnership evolved. Recognizing and building upon the strengths of both minority-serving and research-intensive institutions allowed the development of an exemplar program. While process measures provided many indicators of success, long-term evaluation of research career-related outcomes are needed.