Diversity in the Workplace Christine A. Joynes Walden University NURS 3000 Section 14, Issues and Trends in Nursing November 3, 2013 Diversity in the Workplace Nurses are responsible for providing culturally competent and sensitive care to a very diverse population. It is for that reason that it is important to have a diverse population of nurses available to provide quality care and to assist their colleagues in learning about the different needs of other cultures and communities. The purpose of this paper is to look at some reasons why diversity in the workplace is important. It will also focus in particular on the issues related to gender diversity. Importance of Diversity in the Workplace Diversity in the workplace is important for many reasons.
"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.
Once in employment many IRNs experience difficulties due to differences in language and culture in their new country of practice. Barriers to effective communication have implications for all nurses but particularly those functioning in a second language and culture. This article suggests strategies for IRNs, UK-educated nurses, managers and policy makers to improve the experience of IRNs and to ensure patients receive the best possible care. Full Text * TranslateFull text * Turn off search term navigation * Jump to first hit Headnote Summary Internationally recruited nurses (IRNs) provide valuable resources to address existing and predicted nurse shortages. Once in employment many IRNs experience difficulties due to differences in language and culture in their new country of practice.
Research Summary and Ethical Considerations: Complexity in Practice Environments Grand Canyon University: NRS 433V 1/12/2014 Title Needed This article discusses the complexity in nursing practice environments that affect patient outcomes. There are many different aspects of the relationship between nursing care and patient outcomes. Nurses struggle to provide quality care in a high-demand practice environment, all the while dealing with stressors. Through research of the nurse work environment three key stressors that influence the quality of care given by nurses were identified. This new phenomenon has been labeled complexity compression.
But many of the problems faced by health care today is caused by failure to communicate properly. Stories related to medical errors, patient confidentiality etc can be seen in the papers everyday. The common theme running through these headline-grabbing issues is communication. [Thomas 2006]. So many measures are taken to improve communication skills of health care professionals like nurses.
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.
Intra hospital transfers also cause confusion and significant stress on patients and families.”(Hendrich, 2005, p. 157) Patient transfers are occurring frequently due to the patient need for higher level of care because of condition change or moved from higher level of care to a step down unit. According to our managers and charge nurses patients are being moved within the same unit to meet patient/family preference, patient safety issues to allow the patient closer to the desk or going from A bed to B bed to allow patient to be closer to the bathroom. Patients are being switched also for infection control reasons to place a patient in isolation or cohort infected patients together. There has been an increased need for patients needing a sitter in the last 3 months making a private room necessary. Our house supervisors report that some of the transfers from one floor to another are
The changes in the health care delivery systems around the world have intensified nurses’ responsibilities and workloads. Nurses must now deal with patients’ increased acuity and complexity in regard to their care situation. Despite such hardships, nurses must find ways to preserve their caring practice and Jean Watson’s caring theory can be seen as indispensable to this goal. Watson’s theory attempts to move nursing from the modernist view of the human body as machine and reality as discrete, elemental, and concrete into a world of the metaphysical where the interdependent and nondiscrete nature of a world and the spiritual nature of humans is of paramount importance (George, 2011). Jean Watson is an American nursing scholar born in West Virginia and now living in Boulder, Colorado.
The same concept applies for healthcare administrators and providers. Diversity among healthcare administrators and competence in the health field has been addressed many times in the previous decades following ethnic minority psychologists’ and other raising concerns of lack of diversity in America dating back primarily to the 1960's. Diversity is a conceptualization that includes many aspects like gender, age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and sexuality. (Sue, Zane, Nagayama, & Berger, 2009) Diversity in healthcare is crucial as it better reflects the racial and ethnic makeup in America. Hiring decisions are made at top levels, therefore, there is a need for executives who are more diverse.
Good communication skills are a vital aspect of nursing. Communication is a process that requires interpretation, sensitivity, imagination and active participation. Nurses interact with many persons in the course of their profession and good communication assists in meeting legal, ethical and clinical standards of care. If communication fails, there may be serious difficulty, increased liability and a threat to professional credibility. There are many steps to take in order to improve communication skills in nursing such as honesty, availability and responsiveness.