# Operationalizing Anti-Racism Accountability with Equitable Admissions in Nursing Education Accreditation

## TL;DR

This paper calls for nursing education accreditation bodies to adopt anti-racism practices to increase diversity in nursing programs and the future workforce.

## Contribution

The paper introduces accountability structures for equitable admissions in nursing education to combat structural racism.

## Key findings

- Persistent inequities in healthcare are linked to a lack of racial diversity in the nursing workforce.
- Structural barriers in nursing program admissions contribute to the lack of student diversity.
- Accountability structures in admissions can help align nursing student cohorts with U.S. population diversity.

## Abstract

For decades, health professional organizations have recommended increased diversity in the workforce and education. To address persistent inequities in health care, the racial composition of the nursing workforce needs be congruent with the U.S. population. Without first addressing structural inequity in nursing education programs, the nursing profession cannot begin to address structural racism in health care. The lack of nursing student diversity is reflective of barriers in program admissions. This article is a call to nursing accreditation bodies to operationalize anti-racism to improve U.S. nursing workforce diversity by introducing accountability structures that require evidence-based holistic admission review and analysis of admission data to ensure that student cohorts are diverse across nursing programs, thereby ensuring a future workforce that reflects the diversity of the U.S. population.