The Department of Nursing has its eye on Becky Connor.

Eight-year-old Becky, and other youngsters still in elementary school, may hold part of the key to solving what many say is a growing crisis in U.S. health care--a lack of registered nurses that is leaving hospitals and nursing homes short-staffed and patients endangered.

National campaigns are under way to market nursing as a desirable career, and CHNS has taken on some similar efforts, including a series of events during the spring and summer that targeted schoolchildren. The idea, organizers say, is to plant the interest in nursing at a young age.

"By the time kids are in high school, when a lot of career fairs are held, they often have already decided on a career," Pia Inguito, an instructor in nursing who helped students in the Beta Xi chapter of the Sigma Theta Tau international nursing honor society sponsor open houses on campus. "We thought this was a good time to bring nursing to the attention of younger children."

At one of those open houses, in April, Becky Connor and other visitors to McDowell Hall were treated to displays, including hospital beds inhabited by mannequins, and were able to try out such equipment as stethoscopes. Refreshments were served, and youngsters saw a video titled "I Might Want to Be a Nurse" and had the opportunity to chat with UD nursing students.

"You have to reach them early," says Cynthia Diefenbeck, instructor and undergraduate recruiter for the nursing department. She says organizers hope to hold more career fairs both on campus and at schools or community centers.

Another effort to expose youngsters to careers in health care took place in August. "Kamp for Kids" offered middle school students the opportunity to come to campus for a week and learn about careers by touring nearby Christiana Hospital and shadowing professionals in a variety of health-care jobs.