2023 ANA Innovation Award Honorable Mention: Sherri Wilson, DNP, MPA, FAAN

School to Career Linkages: Strengthening the Nursing Pipeline

The women in Sherri Wilson’s life are nothing short of remarkable. Her late grandmother was a licensed vocational nurse in the 1950s, and her mother worked on the first manned lunar mission for NASA.

“They made me see what was possible,” Wilson says. “My mother is now considered to be a ‘hidden figure.’ She worked basically as a human computer at the time.”

Wilson’s mother pursued her passions fearlessly, majoring in mathematics as a first-generation student at an HBCU and applying for an engineering position at Boeing just after graduation. Wilson carries on her mother’s legacy of excellence in her own work. She has created a health science careers pathway for grades 6-12 that is designed to strengthen the nursing pipeline. The program stretches across 40 states.

Wilson is the director of partnership development at Stride, Inc., an innovator in educational services that manages a network of charter schools, school districts, and online/blended programs. Interest in nursing as a career is extremely high among students, and due to her nursing background, Wilson was brought on to develop the online health science career pathway. She spearheaded the academic curriculum and associated programming, which includes a National Nursing Club, certified career coaching to support historically underserved students, internship opportunities, and dual-enrollment opportunities with local colleges.

One of Wilson’s motivations for creating this program is to strengthen diversity in nursing.

“The minority population in nursing is 19.4 percent,” Wilson said. “In order to really impact health outcomes and health disparities, the literature really demonstrates that we need to have a diverse workforce.”

As an African-American girl who grew up wanting to pursue a career in science, Wilson understands the importance of exposure to opportunities – especially in underserved areas. While she had some great teachers who invested in her and made connections, there was a lack of exposure to STEM careers in her local school district.

“You can’t be what you can’t see,” she said.

Wilson enhances the health careers pathway by working with industry partners to give students work-based learning opportunities to supplement the foundational skills built out of their academics. Students in the health careers pathway can get internships, or even emerge from their education with a high school diploma and certification as a nurse’s aide. Participating partners enable students to work at 16 years of age, granting them a foothold in a company and even allowing them to take advantage of tuition reimbursement to go to nursing school.

“Our partners are really interested in students who are doing this foundational work – they are taking courses on medical terminology their sophomore year of high school, and they’re already primed for success,” Wilson said.

Dual enrollment programs with local colleges allows student to take prerequisites their junior year, accelerating their path to becoming a BSN and effectively eliminating two years of college.

Wilson also created the National Nursing Club, an online career organization designed to enhance student experience for those already enrolled in the pathway and attract new students. The club meets once per month during the school year. An opportunity to showcase a diverse group of nurses, Wilson invites African American women, Asian women and other people of color to speak to club members. Their first guest was Ernest Grant, PhD, RN, FAAN, immediate past ANA President, who drew over 800 attendees. The Nursing Club has tripled the diversity numbers in the health careers pathway since it began, and it has become the highest performing website at Stride.

Wraparound services at Stride also provide another step toward a nursing career for students. Certified career coaches can help students prepare for interviews, learn business skills, and understand their strengths and weaknesses as they work toward their goals.

“One of our partners, CVS Health, had an event for 1100 students,” Wilson said. “Our career coaches created videos and toolkits for the students who were interested in applying to entry-level jobs to help ensure success.”

As a result of the pilot she created, Wilson notes that in its second year, overall career pathway enrollment grew by 50 percent to 60,000 students. She is particularly proud of the visibility of her program’s impact and its scale.

“My mother always has this saying, ‘Sometimes you’ll never know the lives that you touch,’ Wilson reflected. “Being able to see and hear how this program is changing lives… I’m speechless. It’s changing futures, and students will always be set up for success with this foundation in science.”

Like any innovation, Wilson’s program also has its share of challenges. State-by-state variances in educational policy are challenging to navigate, and Wilson and her colleagues have to stay informed of legislation.

Wilson encourages nurses who are embarking on their own innovation journey to trust that they belong in the spaces in which they never saw themselves.

“You’re there because you’re supposed to be there. You have the power to create and make things happen. Keep going!”