The Bridge Program: an overview.

Challenging the health manpower requirements of a diverse population is the concomitant need to prepare nurses from underrepresented groups with leadership skills. As the graduate educated nursing population is not congruent with the numbers of minorities in the general population, it is urgent that the academic community address this problem. The Bridge Program is one answer to this concern by a large university system. The Bridge Program provides academic support, mentoring, program enrichment for baccalaureate students from underrepresented groups who possess the ability and desire to pursue advanced nursing study. The preparation includes each student producing a scholarly project developed in collaboration with a research faculty member. These teaching-learning activities are to facilitate minority nursing students' access to the rigors of graduate education.