North Philly Mini Nurse Academy teaches kids vital skills, showcases career options in health care
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A group of Black nurses wants children to know about opportunities in the field and is working to pique their interest while they're young.
They may not know it now, but for some, it may be a way out. Others may not want to leave, but instead, will stay and try to make their communities better.
Either way, seeds are being planted. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Area Black Nurses Association held its second annual Mini Nurse Academy at General George G. Meade School in North Philly.
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"I'm learning CPR, blood pressure," Skylah Curry, a fourth-grader attending the academy, said.
"It's teaching you how like, if someone like falls unconscious and you can help them and heal them up," fourth-grader Ahyan Mahmud said.
Curry and Mahmud are two of the third-through-sixth graders in this year's class.
Monica Harmon, a registered nurse and assistant clinical nursing professor at Drexel University, is the area chapter president.
"We needed to make sure that we reached children when they are younger to let them know about nursing as a viable profession," Harmon said.
Experienced nurses are joined by Thomas Jefferson University nursing students to help teach the program.
"My second favorite one is blood pressure because, I just like it," Curry said while smiling.
Harmon said health care needs more Black nurses to combat health inequities and disparities.
"We often walk in two worlds, right? So we kind of know our culture, our neighborhoods, but then we're also in a health care system. And if you talk about nursing, nursing is still mostly White and it is mostly female," Harmon said. "We walk in that world where we understand the jargon, if you will, in health care. But then also, we can also say 'OK this is what that really means.'"
For the kids at the General George G. Meade School, seeing Black nurses could make the difference.
"But my hope is that the children think of themselves in the future, that they are even more curious, because our children are already naturally curious, for sure," Harmon said. "But also that they learn how to use the resources available to them."
"I want to help people and I want to work on kids. Kids are easier," Curry said.
