CULLOWHEE – Western Carolina University’s School of Nursing and its Nursing Network-Careers in Technology Mentoring Program will host their second annual nursing diversity conference in Asheville on Friday, April 24.
The conference, “Supporting Academic Success for Diverse and Minority Students,” will address issues involved in increasing the number of underrepresented ethnic minority and disadvantaged background students entering the field of nursing.
This year’s conference will provide an opportunity for nursing educators, health care professionals, secondary school educators and community leaders to experience a Native American approach to facilitating group process, explore various cultural identity issues, discuss the challenges of working with students from diverse backgrounds, and discover diverse teaching and learning approaches.
Keynote presenters will include Jim Henson and John Lowe. Henson was formerly chief of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, he is an internationally certified drug and alcohol and behavioral health counselor. Henson was the recipient of an honorary doctorate from the Florida Atlantic University and travels the world promoting the health and wellbeing of Native and indigenous peoples. Lowe’s Native America heritage connects him to the Cherokee, Creek and Lenape tribes. He is one of only 20 Native American nurses with a doctoral degree. He holds positions in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing California Endowment for Cultural Competencies in Graduate Nursing, National Coalition of Minority Nurses Associations, and the Native American Health Intervention Research Coalition at the National Institutes of Health.
The conference will be held at WCU’s instructional site at Biltmore Park Town Square from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with registration beginning at 8:30 a.m. Registration is $30 through April 10, and $45 thereafter. Student registration is $10 for undergraduates and $15 for graduate students.
WCU is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the North Carolina Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. Continuing education credits are available for attending the conference.
Info: nursinged.wcu.edu or WCU’s Office of Continuing and Professional Education (828) 227-7397
– WCU
