KILLEEN, Texas — Shawntay Harris started a career in nursing in 2000 because she wanted to help people.
She worked as an emergency nurse for years, then in 2006 opened Eminent CPR to help train others.
"It's an AHA American Heart Association training center, I also offer courses from the Emergency Nurses Association, then my own courses," she told 25 News of her business.
Her hard work and dedication to the field for the last 23 years were recently recognized on a national level when she was inducted into Academy of Emergency Nurses.
The program was started in 2004 to highlight nurses making a huge impact on the industry.
"When I was approached as a potential candidate to be inducted, I was like 'Oh am I worthy? Have I done enough? How do I feel?'," Harris said.
"Then when I looked at the other members of the academy, I was like 'Oh, no, there's no one else who looks like me,' — I will be making history if inducted."
She did go on to make history as the first Black woman to be a part of the academy.
"It feels amazing to know that I've broken this ceiling so other nurses of color know they can, their work is great and exciting, has global impact, is sustainable and they'll see someone that looks like them," she said.
Harris said she hopes to inspire not only current nurses of color, but also encourage more people to join the industry because diversity in healthcare is so important.
"Patients have better outcomes when they are treated by healthcare partners that look like them," she said.
According to a 2020 report, roughly 20 percent of nurses are persons of color and less than seven percent are African American.
"My goal in the academy is to keep doing what we've done," Harris said.
"We want to diversify the academy, create mentorship programs so that others feel comfortable applying and help them through."
