Fairfax Metropolitan Hospital:
The Candidate
Fairfax Metropolitan
Hospital: The Candidate
M. June Allard
Assumption College
Worcester State College Professor Emerita
Fairfax Metropolitan Hospital is a moderately sized teaching hospital committed to quality care from a qualified staff. The hospital currently suffers from a lack of diversity among its staff, however—a glaring fault in nearly every unit at the hospital and one pointed out by several accrediting agencies. The hospital now seeks to develop a more diversified staff, which they define as one representing the racial/ethnic diversity of their community. In addition to diversifying, there is an urgent need to modernize
the nursing department, as its
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As the HR manager listens, themes emerge from the committee’s discussion of
Dr. Soysa. Typical of the comments he hears are the following:“I am concerned about her health, given that she is so overweight.”“Did you notice how much she ate at lunch?!“It’s important that we present a good public appearance . . .”“This job involves a lot of public relations; the director has a lot of public exposure” “Too bad our benefits don’t include fitness clubs or Weight Watchers!”“I just don’t know about her . . .”
“She is qualified, but . . .”“And she is so much younger than the other directors! Do you think she is too young to fit with them?“Experienced nurses might not accept her . . .”“I just don’t know if she would fit well with our organization.” Someone suggests that maybe they should select one of the male candidates, since there are few male nurses in the unit and the hospital has never had a male in the nursing director’s position. Someone else tentatively suggests that maybe the search should be reopened.
As the committee continues its discussion, the HR director is aware that no one is arguing for any other candidate in particular.There seems to be implicit acceptance that Saryn Soysa is by far the best qualified; easily head and shoulders above all the other candidates.
Their conversation, however, reflects reservations tinged with some prejudices. Jorge knows that the search team is conscious of its charge to diversify the nursing unit
Healthcare diversities among healthcare professionals have been a challenge within the healthcare system. There are various publications that state that the underrepresented minorities have a higher chance of not graduating medical school, accruing high student loans, and ultimately were unsatisfied with their jobs (Pololi et al., 2013). This is not only disturbing, but this represents the individuals who are or will be servicing the public on a daily basis. As the population increases, racial differences increase, so to combat these disparities cultural competencies have to come into play within the health-professions workforce. For instance, although African Americans constitute to 13% of the population, in the physician workforce they only account for 4%, also women who are part of the workforce outweigh the amount of men by at least 4%, respectively (U.S. Census Bureau, 2014). Coincidentally, whites make up to 49% (both men and women) of the total U.S. MD active physicians based on the labor workforce statistics of 2013.
Minority care quality in California is rapidly declining because of the shortage of minority physicians in practice. One might wonder why such a problem exists, but differences in cultural and ethnic identities between doctors and patients alter the quality of care because of preexisting stereotypes, health disparities, and linguistic gaps. Minorities in California consist of those other than non-Hispanic whites, and with their growing presence, they are becoming further underrepresented in the medical field. The foundation of this problem is the declining number of minority students attending medical school and the lack of diversity in medical school faculty. With a greater ethnic diversity in the medical field, comes a better quality of
Problem Multicultural disparities serve as a gap within the health care system. However, all remarkable leaders and or administrator share commonalities to try and bring about a resolution for multicultural disparities. In fact, an integral part of multicultural disparities stems from attitudes, no access to resources, health behaviors, and organization not validating a change is needed. More importantly, health disparities, continue to plague the population. Multicultural Health Care: A Quality Improvement Guide.
The target of this paper is to explore the strategic diversity plan of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ' (VA) with an end goal of supporting its efficacy. Accordingly, this paper organizes this exploration into three correlating sections, the first of which presents an overview of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) within the VA. In addition, this area summarizes the VA diversity plan, created by the ODI. Next, the second exploration section outlines specific focus areas as defined in the Standard University Publication Best Practices for Managing Organizational Diversity (2007). The third and final segment offers a concluding synopsis of this analysis and proposes remedies for the gaps. In conjunction, this paper includes appendices which serve as informative supplements with relevant exhibits of the documents used in this research. First, appendix “A” contains the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan FY 2012 – 2016, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Quarterly Progress and Accomplishment Report Template – FY 2012, Diversity and Inclusion Annual Report – FY 2014, and the VA Strategic Plan FY 2014 – 2020. Second, appendix “B” includes the mission, vision, values and goals of the ODI, as well as an illustration of their organizational chart. Third, appendix “C” provides the Pew Research Center graphical data on the United States population. Fourth, appendix “D” consists of the veteran population graphical data from the National Center for Veterans
Heritage Valley Medical Center has been known for it’s stellar reputation of providing excellent care to residents of the surrounding community. In recent years, it has had a changing demographic, and occupancy rates have decreased to 40%. This is due to the relocation of more affluent private-pay patients from the city to the suburbs. The center has developed alliances to increase Medicare referrals and indigent patients, with the hope of increasing additional Medicaid revenue. Although the minority population has increased from 10% to 40%, the staff demographics did not change. There is still a disproportionately low number of minorities employed by the facility, and an even lower number of minorities in management
As a refresher, I am interning at Mercy Behavioral Health Service Coordination Unit (MBH-SCU). Overall, I am enjoying the roles and activities in MBH-SUC and I believe that the experience is a very valuable learning practice. This reaction paper discusses a concept as it relates to my field practicum/field experience: Diversity and inclusion in healthcare organizations.
The facility that I work for has seen a shift in demographics since the erection of this new building and the leaders have identified the challenges this shift have created. They have recognized that for them to achieve the hallmarks of quality of care as illustrated by the IOM they would have to ensure that the standards of culturally competent care are tailored to meet the needs of their new population and it cannot be done haphazardly. Goode (2004) stated that there is no easy solution to achieve cultural competence, it requires careful assessment, setting of specific goals and planning for meaningful growth. Nurse leaders are faced with challenges since the population served by this organization is diverse and consists predominantly of minorities who are more vulnerable to health, employment, and gender disparities. There are large amounts of Africans, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asians; moderate amount of Caucasians and very few Chinese and Vietnamese in our community. In comparison the staff consists of mainly Filipino, moderate Caucasians and few blacks, Hispanics/Latinos, and Asians. In 2008, the U.S.
Due to the changing demographics of our society, hospitals and health systems need to be more diverse. Employees need to be hired that match the ethnic make-up of those they serve. Training for employees to be able understand others beliefs and values will support the patient-provider relationship. Finally, by promoting diversity within the health system, potential patients will be drawn into the system for care when historically they shied away from major institutions. By making culturally proficient care and treatment a priority, healthcare organizations will decrease “the gap in health status between minorities and other majority groups, patient-provider communication barriers, poor health outcomes for minorities and the presence of biases and prejudices among some health professionals” (Hart & Mareno 2013, p. 2223). This paper, will examine Hospital Corporation of America’s (HCA) website diversity.
Maintaining an organization with industry-leading levels of diversity and inclusion is critical to fulfilling our mission, sustaining our business objectives, and providing the highest quality, affordable, and culturally competent care to our members and patients and the communities we serve.” ("Kaiser Permanente",
According to the December 2012 United States Census Bureau Population Projection, the nation will continue its trend of consistent diversification. By 2024, the non-Hispanic white population will show a decrease in numbers. Minorities including Hispanics, African Americans and Asians will double, and other groups will increase by at least half. Eventually, non-Hispanic whites will not be seen as a majority, but as an equally represented group among its ethnic counterparts (U.S. Bureau, 2014). This projection can not be transposed to the country’s nursing population. Non-Hispanic white nurses often vastly outnumber other groups (Bessent, 2009, p6). The nursing workforce needs to actively and continually diversify its professionals to provide competent care for the nation’s ever-changing population.
Prevailing astuteness supports the fact that working in U.S. health care field in the 21st Century call for familiarity of the countless facets of health laws as they relate to dealing with medical professionals. Further, because U.S. health care administrators have to hypothetically work together with many levels of specialists beyond the medical profession, it is judicious that they are aware of any federal, state, and local laws that may be appropriate to their organizations. Consequently, their manner is also subject to the letter of the law. They must assess the value of their professional collaborations and be watchful of the insinuations and consequences of their choices. As the top health administrator at the proposed Well Care Hospital in Happy Town. Upon being hired, there was a pre-employment screening that involved a background check that was administered to check and see if there were any violations of hospital medical misconduct during the last five years. With the hospital in the last six months being under scrutiny for breach of medical compliance there was some training that had to take place including training in personnel conduct, as well as in inter-employee conduct with medical staff, nurses, and technologists.
Nurses are not any better than the physicians, report studies show that nurses view individuals affected by obesity as non-compliant, overindulgent, lazy and unsuccessful. Furthermore, 31 percent “would prefer not to care for individuals affected by obesity” and 24 percent agreed that individuals affected by obesity “repulsed them”. While we all have our individual opinions and experiences in life, I believe it is important to remember to try and not judge our patients and rather assist them in obtaining the best possible state of wellness that we
The Daisy foundation has found that men are recognized by patients, families and health team members two to three times the rate they are employed (Farmer 2015). It proves that men are not only capable of providing care for patients, but that they exceed the expectations people place on their nurse. As a male nursing student, this paper increased the awareness on this subject. It helps not to pay attention to the stereotypes and the gender discrimination when it comes to patients. Understanding why they chose a female patient over a male patient isn’t my concern, it’s to give cultural competent
Recruiting and promoting diverse staff members at all levels in the organisation that represents the demographics of the population of local community which is being served. This results in a team with diversity which is a very important requirement in providing culturally competent health services to the patients. Establishing heterogeneity in the workforce of health organization helps to reduce the ethnic and racial differences in health and health care delivery. Following this strategy in recruiting staff members of an organization also helps to develop trustworthy relationship with the patients. At present, the divergence in the faculty at all levels of the management is not compatible with the progressive diverse society they interact
Although Sylvia’s ambiguous proclamation in Ariel enhanced her sense of self-empowerment, she continued to feel inferior to the male authoritative figures in her life, until 1956 when she met Ted Hughes. In her poem, Ode for Ted she demonstratively praises her new husband, characterizing him as a supreme individual of nature. Her perception of him steers closely to majestic, bestowing power and control unto him: “he with rock splits open/ knobbed quartz; flayed colors ripen/ rich, brown, sudden in sunlight (10-12, Ode for Ted, Sylvia Plath)”. However, in the sense of male versus female superiority, this poem simultaneously degraded Ted Hughes by sparking a competition. Authors Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar perceive women writers as “cherishing