Assistant Professor of Nursing Emerita at the University of Michigan
About
Dr. Patricia Coleman-Burns is a University of Michigan assistant professor emerita of nursing and Black studies. A long-time advocate for the right of persons to be free from all forms of oppression and violence, she currently serves on the board of Safehouse Center on domestic violence and sexual assault, and the U-M Women of Color in the Academy Steering Committee; and is the co-chair of the UM Academic Women's Caucus. Her self-designed and pioneering scholarly pathway found her on the precipice of the emerging Black/African American and women studies programs in the 1970s and multicultural affairs in the 1990s. Her research has evolved from rhetorical studies of radical and revolutionary social movements to a focus on racial identity in the reduction of health disparities through a social justice and social determinants of health perspective that examines workforce diversity, the education of underrepresented persons, efficacious research and community impact. Her GENESIS (pipeline & retention) Project in various iterations was founded in 1997. She led efforts to move beyond "minority" designations to the inclusion of underrepresented racial and ethnic cultures in her role as director of the University of Michigan School of Nursing (UMSON) Office of Multicultural Affairs (1991-2007). Her mentees over the years have achieved great successes including the current CEO of The California Board of Registered Nursing and the Middlewest Regional Director of Chi Eta Phi, Inc. Sorority for Nurses.
Current Work:
Her research is on racial identity, workforce diversity, and the reduction of health disparities.
Her GENESIS Project is pioneering as she focuses on increasing the number of persons underrepresented in nursing (PUNs) in order to improve the health outcomes of US citizens through the reduction of health disparities. GENESIS-Gaining Excellence in Nursing Education: Strength in the Sciences focuses on a pipeline to higher education for middle and high school students (EnAct--Exploring Nursing As A Career for Tomorrow), and a retention, progression, graduation and successful licensing of baccalaureate nursing students (BEST--Bootcamp for entering Students Training); both projects include a 2-week summer residential program. Her research explores the best practices for including PUNS. Dr. Coleman-Burns contributions include the use of the social determinants and social justice principles and perspectives to help students to be academically and professionally successful. Her design of peer facilitated study groups for difficulty science courses, her early identification of PUNs (defined as underrepresented persons in nursing who are 1st generation college bound students, rural and urban communities especially those in medically underserved areas (MUAs) and health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), low income, working class families, and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, including men in all of these targeted groups.
Her project studying the cultural competence of African American health professionals and the intersection of evidence-based best practices specific to African American women specifically and the practitioners' racial identity explores the likelihood of implicit and hidden biases in the curriculums of health professions.
Her work with African American early adolescents and perceptions of discrimination explores coping capabilities of youth. Noteworthy are the differing skills that Black youth in predominantly white schools obtain that often exceed those of Black youth in predominantly African American schools.
Research Area Keyword(s):
Cultural competence, social determinants of health, disparities, diversity, equity
