A former president of the National Association of Hispanic Nurses, Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, also received $500,000 in 2010 to lead the development of nursing student mentoring programs in three states through NAHN.
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By Rosanne Fohn

Delia Silvas has had to overcome many challenges in life. One of the biggest was her need for a kidney transplant. During the time leading up to the transplant, the procedure and her recovery, Silvas said she received excellent care. Her experience inspired her to become nurse.

“I have been given so much that I wanted to give back,” she said.

However, the decision to enter nursing school later in life brought Silvas even more challenges. “I was looking for support, because I was not sure I could handle it with my health problems and financial issues,” she said.

Fortunately, the School of Nursing had a robust peer mentoring program, Juntos Podemos (Together We Can), that has been extensively expanded this academic year due to a three-year, $900,000 grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

Like Juntos Podemos, the expanded program called “Diversifying Future Leaders in Nursing” is led by Norma Martinez Rogers, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, a professor in the Department of Family & Community Health Systems.

Success of Juntos Podemos
In Dr. Martinez’s Juntos Podemos program, beginning nursing students were matched with undergraduate mentors to provide advice, support and study assistance. As the beginning students advanced, they continued to be mentored, but also supported protégés a semester behind them and received a small stipend to help with expenses.

Improving upon success
After a 2009 survey of students and alumni from Juntos Podemos, Dr. Rogers learned “The number one barrier to completing school — and this was consistently expressed by the students — was the need for a counselor or social worker they could easily access who could provide advice or resources,” Dr. Rogers said. Students typically need help with such issues as navigating through higher education, learning about grants and scholarships, and juggling work, school and family obligations.

“Students also wanted to participate in projects involving leadership, research and teaching that would help them decide whether to pursue graduate school,” Dr. Rogers said. “That is why I developed the new program.”

Expanding the program
She and her team launched the new program in fall 2010 designed to lead high school students into college, college students into nursing school and nursing students into graduate school. The ultimate goal is to provide more Hispanic nurses for South Texas, which has a critical shortage of health care providers.

“The most successful way to bring more nurses to South Texas is to recruit students from our university’s service area in hopes that they will graduate and return home to provide care,” Dr. Rogers explained. “Because many of these students are the first in their families to attend college, they sometimes need extra encouragement and support to envision themselves first as students in higher education, and then as researchers, educators and leaders,” Dr. Rogers said.

Educational partnerships
Working with UT San Antonio (UTSA), a longtime educational partner, the School of Nursing now has an outreach program to interest high school students in the nursing profession. In addition, UTSA students interested in nursing will soon be able to take a pre-nursing course and can join a pre-nursing society that will serve as a support group as they complete their prerequisites and move into the UT Health Science Center’s nursing program for their junior and senior years.

A listening ear
At the Health Science Center, nursing students now can bring their concerns to the School of Nursing’s social worker. They are mentored by graduate-level nursing students and faculty members who can help them learn more about graduate education. And to further support this effort, Dr. Rogers’ team is developing several lecture series for nursing students interested in research, teaching and leadership to introduce them to the possibility of graduate school.

“It has made a tremendous difference for me, especially being an older student,” said Silvas, the nursing student. “Between my mentor, the staff and Dr. Rogers, I feel I am well guided. And now that I’m further along in the program, I’m able to help others, too.”