According to the 2023 United States Census Bureau, 20.5% [1 in 5] of Washingtonians speak a language other than English at home. At WCN, we celebrate the rich diversity of Washington’s communities.
In addition, a 2024 WCN Washington nursing diversity data snapshot showed that 38% of Washingtonians identify as an ethnicity or race other than white, compared to only 23% of the state’s RN nursing workforce. According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, “Improving nursing diversity strengthens the trust between patients and nurses.
In healthcare, a diverse nursing workforce strengthens care for all Washingtonians. To celebrate the contributions of bilingual nurses in Washington, WCN created videos to share the journey into nursing for some of Washington’s bilingual nurses.
These videos explore the challenges these nurses overcame to pursue a career in nursing, along with their passion for caring and community that helped them to succeed!
WCN created these videos to promote nursing as a career to diverse populations and culturally competent care. If you are considering a career in nursing, know that nursing needs you. And though there are challenges in pursuing a career in nursing, there are people and resources to help you achieve your goal!
To learn more about nursing as a career, start your journey by visiting our Be A Nurse page today!
For more information or to connect with one Washington’s multiethnic nurses associations visit https://www.wcnursing.org/nursing-workforce/washington-state-nursing-organizations/
WCN uses data to provide an accurate picture of Washington’s nursing workforce to inform health workforce policy in the state. In nursing, there are three primary categories of data: supply, demand, and education. This short video explains what each category tells us about the nursing workforce and how the data is collected and used.
The Washington Center for Nursing (WCN) and the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) are committed to engaging the powerful influence of nurses in advancing health equity.
“Health equity means increasing opportunities for everyone to live the healthiest life possible, no matter who we are, where we live, or how much money we make.” -RWJF
Together, we are teaming up to talk about ways nursing leaders are working to advance health equity in Washington State. And letting you know as nurse leaders and practitioners how you can plugin, too.
Featured nurse leaders
Are you thinking about nursing as a career? This motivating video by Nurse Advocate Stefan Torres shares the one thing you need to be a great nurse. It also shares his journey along the way to his dream career.
Note: No license surcharge fees were used to produce this video series.