This offers a limited resource of knowledge with regard to other cultural needs and beliefs. Increasing the diversity of the nursing community offers both the potential opportunity for patients to be cared for by a nurse who knows or understands their specific beliefs and needs, but also the ability for nurses to share their knowledge with colleagues to increase cultural sensitivity and knowledge across the profession (Douglas, et al, 2009). Evaluating Gender Diversity Diversity in the workplace is not limited to race, religion or age. Another important factor to consider when ensuring quality patient care is gender. As mentioned previously, the majority of professional nurses are Caucasian, female and middle aged.
"This trend towards an awareness of cultural diversity is evident in many fields, including nursing and healthcare. In essence, we can describe diversity as being concerned with "....recognizing, respecting and valuing differences based on ethnicity, gender, color, age, race, religion, disability, national origin and sexual orientation" (Business Case for Diversity). One of the reasons given for the increasing importance of cultural diversity is the reduction of the barriers between cultures and nations that is a result of technology, travel and globalization. This is a fact that the modern nurse has to contend with. In term of the nursing and healthcare, studies note that " Diversity is a broad yet powerful idea that encompasses the ideas of difference and complexity.
Their ability to empathize with another person tends to increase throughout their life with maturity, age, experience and knowledge. (Archibold et al, 1997, p. 107). It is further shown in Archibold et al that people can also mistake or confuse empathy with sympathy and as a nurse you have to be able to know the differences between the two. Sympathy is to feel sorry for a client without actually understanding what the client may be feeling or going through at that time. A nurse may know a
There are many steps to take in order to improve communication skills in nursing such as honesty, availability and responsiveness. The first step towards effective communication in nursing is honesty. As nurses, we may often find ourselves making promises that we can’t keep. This could be anything along the lines of, “I’ll be back in 2 minutes” or “The doctor will be with you shortly.” Although we may have good intentions, and we may often forget the promises we make, our patients are relying on us to be honest and follow through with these promises. It is important not to make promises we cannot keep.
Better Teamwork, Better Patient Care Sabrina Haight Baker College of Cadillac Better Teamwork, Better Patient Care A health care team has a duty to provide effective, quality care in order to enhance the health and well-being of its patients. Every professional on that team has different roles to play in providing that standard of care. These roles range from CNA to nurse to physician, with many other interdisciplinary roles as well, like paramedic, respiratory therapist, or social worker. Each person has distinct expertise and skills to contribute that can be applied to the patient’s care. Organization and cooperation must be integrated into the team to ensure that needs of the patient are adequately met.
The number of foreign-born residents in America has steeply increased, leading to a demand of nursing development in the area of cultural competency. This paper carries a purpose of addressing the importance of becoming a culturally competent nursing professional as well as the importance of developing an ethnically diverse workforce. Nurses must be aware of their own values and beliefs, which is the first step to becoming culturally competent. People develop their set of values, beliefs, and social norms from childhood. Years of cultural conditioning can create barriers for a nurse wanting to achieve an unconscious level of cultural competency.
Position Statement Cultural Cultural Competency Defining Cultural Competence Health care providers may experience challenges stemming from cultural differences when treating patients of various ethnicities, and these challenges may lead to suboptimal patient care. Current data shows that despite substantial advances in the overall health of Americans, health disparities persist among US racial and ethnic groups. A recent editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that miscommunications due to language barriers with Spanish, the most common non-English language spoken in the US, lead to substandard health care. For many individuals with limited English proficiency, inability to communicate in English is the primary barrier to accessing health information and services. Elimination of health disparities must be placed at the forefront of the country’s health priorities.
Opposing opinions often alter patients’ perception about health care and their ability to comprehend, govern, and handle the course of a sickness, diagnosis, and risk versus benefit of medical treatment. Cultural specific ideas are presented through patients and their families bring as well as values that directly correlate to their theories of health status, description of signs of illness, thoughts of how their personalized care will be conveyed, and beliefs about pharmaceutical and skilled interventions ("Euromed Info," n.d.). In addition, many patients are highly influenced due to cultural values taught and encouraged throughout their life span. In America, health maintenance is encouraged through healthy eating habits, exercise, routine exams, and decreasing risky behaviors. We provide health protection through immunizations, early diagnosis and treatment, and education.
Despite the changing physical location where birthing takes place, people’s beliefs still closely effect how pregnancy and childbirth are carried out. When looking at our attitudes towards pregnancy, childbearing, and post natal care, many intimate layers of a particular society become unveiled. Ingrained belief systems about: child safety, ritual, self-care, the pain response, hygiene, joy, gender issues, privacy and the spiritual destiny of the child. Being open to cultural differences also puts the “rightness and wrongness” that so often prevails in the western biomedical model of health care to a
Running Head: The Same Goal in Mind The Same Goal in Mind Zakiyyah Beyah The Same Goal in Mind Abstract Higher education has been the determining factor for better patient outcomes in nursing. Life events have prevented many nurses from pursuing education advancement. With new found support this goal is becoming more attainable for all nurses to achieve. The Same Goal The Same Goal in Mind There is much debate on the correlation between baccalaureate educated nurses and better patient outcome. Some feel that higher educated nurses are vital to meeting the demands of our ever changing healthcare needs.