This discussion board post is discussing cultural background of nurses and the delivery of nursing care. I will give my definition of diversity, and provide some benefits of having a diverse health care workforce. Then I will provide some barriers to having a diverse health care workforce. Lastly, I will describe how my diverse cultural background affects the care I provide.
Definition of Diversity
There are many aspects to include when defining diversity. Diversity is understanding biological variations, space, social organization, communication, time and environmental control of a culture. The first aspect is understanding the different biological variations within different cultures of people. Biological variations include: body structure,
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This includes their family, religion, race, ethnicity, and kinship. All of these play a role in the person’s cultural behavior. These are the things that are acquired or not genetically given. Communication refers to verbal and nonverbal forms of interacting. This includes spoken, written, gestures, body language, space, and facial expressions. The last aspect is environmental control. Understanding different cultures view on when they seek health care related to their environmental control is important. Different cultures seek health care based on their culture’s views of illness and disease, their medical practices, and their use of folk medicine (Giger, …show more content…
However, there was diversity within my community. I had friends that were Caucasian, Asian, Hispanic, and African American. I saw cultures at a young age that varied from my own. I have had experience working at an Urgent Care center where being Caucasian was the minority in the staff. These experiences have helped me learn about cultures that differ from my own and has helped me grow in knowledge of the customs, traditions, and rituals of these other cultures. I try to be respectful to other cultures and to provide every patient with care that is not offensive to them. This is a continual learning process that I look forward
Being culturally aware and knowledgeable is a must when working in any type of healthcare field. In our society today, we have an array of different cultures and making patients feel comfortable and at easy is our primary goal. Diversity training is something that is a must for each healthcare professional and should be the basis of our healthcare education.
The real definition of diversity includes different elements of the identity and culture of each person. Diversity involves cultural differences, such as origins, religious or political affiliation, race, and gender, and other more profound differences, such as experiences and personality. As Banks argues in her research, the real definition involves several elements of our identity (149). Therefore, the way in which we define and conceptualize diversity affects the way in which we interact with people of others culture, race, and affiliations.
Health care establishments have an obligation to ensure that every individual obtaining care from them will get the best and most valuable treatment regardless of their race, culture, or economic status. The term diversity can be defined as “the quality or state of having different forms, types, ideas, etc, or the state of having people of different races or different cultures in a group or organization”, according to the Webster’s dictionary (2015). The changing demographics due to migration have led to diversity in many cities and states in the U.S. as well as other countries in the world. These changes in the U.S. have today led to the government encouraging health care organizations to explore ways numerous ways
This essay will focus on outlining the fundamental principles of cultural diversity and how effective nursing interventions are used when providing an adequate amount of care for an individual from a culturally diverse background and how this may collide with the nursing therapeutic engagement. This essay will give the reader an insight upon culture whilst giving a significant explanation of cultural differences within a health setting. The patient’s real name will not be used and will be referred to as Mr. X. This is in line with the Nursing and midwifery Council 2008 (NMC, 2008) requirements to maintain confidentiality at all times.
Baccalaureate-prepared nurses should demonstrate cultural awareness and competence in their practice in order to provide quality care to diverse populations in the society (Kersey-Matusiak, 2012). The US health care system faces disparities in the health status of different cultural groups such as the racial and ethnic minorities, the economically disadvantaged groups and rural populations (Jeffreys, 2006). Cultural competence refers to the attitudes, knowledge, and skills that are necessary for providing care in diverse populations and I believe that I have acquired personal cultural awareness and competence (Weber & Kelly, 2009). I am able to promote social justice by remaining impartial
Going to a different country or area of the world can open up anybody’s eyes to see that culture makes a huge impact on the understanding and practices of healthcare that seem to be so common to other areas of the world. When a person lives in one country their whole life, that person may not realize how different the life they live is from someone in a foreign country. If a person is going to receive treatment from someone with a different cultural background, they should be expected to get treatment to respects their own culture. Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences having such a diverse variety of students has their own cultural competency definition that states “effectively and comfortably communicate across cultures with patients of differing backgrounds, taking into account aspects of trust in order to adopt mutually acceptable objectives and measures”. In the book Dancing Skeletons: Life and Death in West Africa by Katherine Dettwyler, the issue of culture and healthcare are greatly prevalent. Katherine Dettwyler herself goes to West Africa as an anthropologist and her horizons are broadened when during her research she comes in contact with how much culture has an impact on healthcare and everyday life.
The healthcare workforce is suffering critically due to its lack in diversity. As healthcare organizations are growing and the number of patients is increasing, so is the diversity of the patients. There are more minority patients are the number of minorities increase in the United States. The need for minority employees is crucial in that they are needed to help assist patients who have the similar cultural, racial, and ethnic upbringings. There are many barriers in healthcare workforce that are keeping minorities from reaching their full potential to become employees in healthcare, particularly upper-level leadership positions; as patients continue to become more diverse, so does the need of employees.
Cultural competence as defined by the American Medical Association acknowledges the responsibility of healthcare providers to understand and appreciate differences that exist in other cultures (as cited by McCorry & Mason, 2011). Moreover, it is the healthcare provider’s responsibility to not only become knowledgeable of other cultural differences, but to assess and adapt their skills to meet the needs of those patients (McCorry & Mason, 2011). Culturally competent healthcare providers recognize and incorporate cultural diversity, awareness, and sensitivity into the total care of a patient (Matzo & Sherman, 2015). Mr. L. is a Chinese-American man and it appears his culture is influencing his end of life (EOL) experience. It is essential
In the health profession, the diversity of people requires the ability to carefully, respectfully and effectively provide care. For this reason, it is vital that the approach of care delivered to patients depend on each individuals. This approach ensures patients receive best quality of care possible and avoid situations that can potentially prevent improvement of health status. This essay will discuss the importance of nurses to be cultural competent, possible consequences of ethnocentrism and how critical reflection can help prevent ethnocentricity.
Transcultural nursing requires us to care for our patients by providing culturally sensitive care to a broad spectrum of patients. The purpose of this post is to describe cultural baggage, ethnocentrism, cultural imposition, prejudice, discrimination, and cultural congruence. I will also give an example of each term to help you understand the terminology related to nursing care. I will define cultural self-assessment and explain why it is valuable for nurses to understand what their own self-assessment means. Finally, I will describe the five steps to delivering culturally congruent nursing care and how I have applied these concepts to my nursing practice.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management diversity is: “A broad definition of diversity ranges from personality and work style to all of the visible dimensions of diversity such as race, age, ethnicity or gender, to secondary influences such as religion, socioeconomics and education, to work diversities such as management and union, functional level and classification or proximity/distance to headquarters.” Diversity is a huge factor that we are striving for in many occupations around the world, but healthcare is one of the main professions that is becoming more diverse. Not only does it have many positive effects, it is providing the patients and workers with a sense of respect for each other. The patients are able to have a nurse or occupational therapists that understand where they are coming from. They might have the same morals or they might be in a similar situation as the patient, so they will be able to relate with the patient and understand them during difficult times. More companies are relating diversity into the workforce. Therefore they are able to have a more successful business because of the many changes they are making to meet the needs of each individual.
According to Andrews and Boyle (2016), having a diverse workforce provides a greater satisfaction among employees, which will result in higher retention of employees as well. By hiring a diverse culture within an organization this increases a workplaces economy and becomes a culturally competent organization. Otherwise, a high turnover can be very costly to an organization and the functionality can decrease. Many organizations have developed policies to help recruit and retain people from different backgrounds. When employees feel that they are valued because of their diversity, the employees will feel protected from discrimination, feel that there is room for advancement within the company, and increase employment retention (Kaplan, Wiley, & Maertz, 2011). With the increase of minorities across the nation, having diversity in nurses and healthcare workers to accommodate this diversity also improves the quality of care to the patients while also increasing their health outcomes and satisfaction (Ayoola, 2013). We have learned in the previous weeks that being able to communicate with our patient’s and understanding their culture can positively increase the outcome of the health. Having a diverse staff will also help establish trust and make them feel at ease. However, there can be barriers to having a diverse culture in the
In an environment that deals with a vast amount of the diverse population, culture is very important. In fact, many healthcare organizations benefit immensely from the impact of culture in a diverse setting. One benefit of this setting is that culture provides guidelines for employees, patients, doctors, visitors, and others that utilize these facilities. Healthcare organizations set the foundation of their companies using cultural beliefs, values, and a code of conduct to create a diverse and accepting workplace.
As a nurse strive to provide culturally sensitive care, they must recognize how their client's and their perceptions are similiar as well as different. Nurse enhance their ability to provide client-centered care by reflecting on how their beliefs and values impact the nurse-patient relationship. To provide appropriate patient care, the nurse must understand her/his culture and that of the nurse profession. Cultural biases can be particularly difficult to identify when the nurse and client are of a similar cultural backgroup. When we recognize and know a culture, we will know what is right for our patient, and thus may impose our own values on the client by assuming our values are their values. Recognizing differences a present an opportunity not only to know the other, but also to help gain a greater sense of self. In this paper, I will explain more about diversity and cultural competence in case study.
Characteristics can be as diverse as ethnic background, language spoken, gender status, physical appearance, race, and religion to name a few. Migration from various countries is creating a diverse population with different cultures and languages within the United States. Due to these cultural differences and lack of knowledge, disparities are increasing. Studies have shown that both language barriers and lack of cultural customs can hinder the services provided to the patient by the healthcare worker (Renzaho, Romios, Crock, & Sonderlund, 2013). This study provided a positive outcome when communication and cultural mutual understanding took place and patients had a more positive health outcome. It is very important that nurses are diversified in various cultures in order to better care for our patients. According to Mareno and Hart (2014), cultural competency has become one of the core values being taught in nursing programs. Their study showed that the perceived level of cultural awareness and skills among the nurses provided was low. Awareness and knowledge levels increased with higher education. It was highly recommended that self-awareness exercises be incorporated into the nursing course and continued to be addressed during the remaining curriculum until