Professional Development in Nursing Research—A Culturally Diverse Postdoctoral Experience

Given the current shift from culturally‐sensitive to culturally‐competent healthcare, preparing culturally diverse nurse‐scientists beyond the doctorate is crucial to the ability to better understand the healthcare of diverse client populations. The probability of ethnic‐minority postdoctoral fellows having mentors of the same race is low. This article describes key issues to consider for culturally integrated professional development experiences between ethnic‐minority postdoctoral nursing research fellows and White, non‐Hispanic nurse‐scientists. The discussion delineates three characteristics that describe a scientific community: communality, colleagueship, and constructive competition. Conclusions are that four factors are critical to ensuring the survival and success of ethnic‐minority researchers: instruction, affiliation and mentoring, sustaining ethnic‐minority researchers’contributions, and expanding the number of ethnic‐minority researchers.