title: Start out: building healthcare careers for minority teenagers.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The healthcare industry is currently experiencing a severe shortage of nurses and other allied healthcare professionals. To compound this crisis, the current workforce does not mirror the growing linguistic and cultural diversity of the population needing health care. This article describes a community partnership approach to creating educational and career opportunities in nursing and other health sciences for young, multicultural, bilingual teenagers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Several community organizations joined together to design and implement an 8-week summer program entitled "Start Out," which served to integrate life planning, mentorship, nursing assistant training, and college application assistance while providing summer salary stipends and work scholarship opportunities. Twenty-seven students participated in the program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-four bilingual, economically disadvantaged teenagers 16 to 19 years old, from the greater Seattle metropolitan area, completed the first session of this innovative program and passed the certified nursing assistant examination.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Culturally focused assistance programs may provide an avenue to meet the current nursing shortage and provide healthcare workers who can be sensitive to the cultural and linguistic needs of the growing ethnic population.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington School of Nursing, Seattle, Washington 98195-7260, USA.
authors.forename: Susan Hunter
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.forename: Kerri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bline
authors.forename: Chelsea
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bird
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bresnahan
authors.forename: Rebekah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Couper-Noles
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cutler
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Erin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hymel
authors.forename: Tracie
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Salsman
authors.forename: Malia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tonellato
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steele
authors.forename: Cathy Strachan
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Lindenberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002321:Career Choice; D003256:Community Participation; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups; D009729:Nursing; D016730:Program Development; D014146:Training Support; D014861:Washington; D000078329:Workforce