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According to the California Healthcare Foundation (CHCF), the state has a dire shortage of Latino nurses. A study found that the majority of nurses in the state are White or Asian, while 39% of the population is Latino and represent only 8% of the nursing pool.
“Clearly we are lacking … [Latino] nurses,” said David Hayes-Bautista, Director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA. “Having them in the workforce will … make for better patient care [and] better language communication.”
In a population as diverse as California, where Latinos lack sufficient access to preventive care and experience higher rates of heart disease and shorter life expectancies than Whites.
Financial support is a major barrier for many Latino students. Financial aid is available to help meet substantial tuition and enrollment fees at nursing school, but many students can become “derailed” in their studies by unexpected problems.
The Board of Registered Nursing has forecasted that the Latino population growth will continue to outpace the number of Latino nurses and doctors unless an emphasis is placed on encouraging Latino enrollment.
By The Numbers
25.1
percent
of Latinos remain without health insurance coverage
