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Increasing diversity in the nursing workforce is a means to promote quality health care for multicultural populations. Though Aboriginal people comprise 4% of the Canadian population, Aboriginal nurses represent less than 1% of the nursing workforce. Despite isolated efforts in nursing education, Aboriginal students are neither recruited nor retained in nursing programs at a rate significant enough to close this gap. A literature review was conducted to identify the current state of knowledge on recruitment and retention of Aboriginal people in nursing education programs. Thirty six articles met inclusion criteria, and major themes were identified and organized according to characteristics of students and academic environments. Characteristics of academic environments were further segmented by secondary school, classroom, program, and university levels. With published literature in its infancy, we suggest an organizing strategy based on a decolonizing multiple intervention and evaluation approach, and commitment from Aboriginaluniversity partnerships, governments and the health professions.

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