Letter to the Editor..................................................................................................................................

To the editor:I read with interest Newell-Winthrow’s

and Slusher’s1 commentary. I agree with theauthors that failure of the nursing profes-sion to recruit minority groups contributesto the nursing shortage. Although educa-tion will need to make a number of modifi-cations to facilitate minority recruitment,tapping minority groups is an issue of eq-uity. Further, with today’s rapid minoritygrowth, this is an excellent time for minor-ity recruitment. Culturally competent nurs-

ing care demands that minorities are repre-sented in nursing. At present there ismarkedly lower representation of minoritiesin the health professions overall. Minoritiesare even more under-represented in nursingthan are minority physicians in medicine.Equal representation of minorities in nurs-ing can be addressed by effective recruitingmeasures and is the just thing to do.

Reynario R. VillegasSenior BSN student

Armstrong Atlantic State University,Savannah, Georgia

..........................................REFERENCE

1. Newell-Winthrow C, Slusher IL. Diversity:an answer to the nursing shortage. Nurs Out-look 2001;49:270-1.

doi.10.1067/mno.2002.125913

MISSION STATEMENTNursing Outlook, the official journal of the American Academy of Nursing, provides critical and timely analysesof emerging professional and health care issues of importance to all nurses. The primarily editorial goals of theJournal are to:

1. Publish innovative, original articles that stimulate thoughtful discussion and scholarly debate and policyimplications among nurses and other health care professionals.

2. Inform readers about the diversity of opinion on controversial professional and health care and healthpolicy matters affecting nursing and the health of the public.

3. Provide a multidisciplinary forum for the dissemination of information derived from the synthesis ofextant knowledge of current and future clinical practice and health policy alternatives.

4. Disseminate information about creative, alternative, and forward-looking models of education and clinicalpractice as they relate to changing systems of health care.

5. Promote the synthesis and use of scientific knowledge in a timely fashion by nurses and other health careprofessionals to enhance the quality and efficiency of health care.

6. Provide information about leadership and leadership development opportunities for nurses, includingprofessional meetings, hearings, forums, fellowships, and internships.

7. Provide the American Academy of Nursing with a medium for communicating important policy issuesand organizational activities.

8. Increase critical awareness of technologies, products, and services that have the potential for increasing theeffectiveness of nurses in all settings.

220 VOLUME 50 • NUMBER 5 NURSING OUTLOOK