Academic-community partnerships: opening the doors to a nursing career.

With the belief that diversity is strength, the community of Reading, Pennsylvania, set forth an effort to meet the challenges of the disparity within the local nursing workforce with a comprehensive, long-term approach for the recruitment and retention of an underrepresented group. An academic-community partnership was formed to develop multifaceted programs and support across school and community agency systems. The Alvernia College Nursing Department has taken a leadership role to coordinate many community and health care agencies with the goal of increasing the number of baccalaureate-prepared Hispanic and bilingual nurses to provide culturally competent and sensitive care to the community.