As the largest health care profession, the nursing workforce is a major contributor for improved health outcomes and enhancement of the patient care experience. Despite our diverse patient population, this is not reflected in the racial and ethnic composition of the California nursing. workforce, resulting in concerns for cultural and linguistic congruency. Focus should center on upstream factors driving workforce inequities, which include lower rates of retention and graduation. among under resourced minority students in health care professional programs, including nursing. and medicine. Attributed to a myriad of biopsychosocial and educational factors, underrepresented.

minority students are primarily from underserved communities, experience multiple adverse life events, and exposed to an increased risk of toxic stress and systematic injustice.
At my institution (Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science), over 80% of the nursing student population identify as African American or Latino and faced challenges listed above. To increase student success, my CHIP project centered on the development and implementation of an innovative educational model for at-risk students to increase retention, graduation, and matriculation into the health care workforce.

“DARE TO WIN” Model: D = Data Driven Needs Analysis; A = Academic Preparation and Rigor.R = Resource and Navigational Support, and E = Empowerment Approach and Support
To implement this model, key stakeholders (i.e., students, faculty, community, and health careleaders) were involved and gaps analyzed