Diversity in Healthcare

The term culture is defined as “the thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups” (Potter & Perry, 2013). With the increase of culturally diverse populations in the United States, it is important for nurses to practice cultural competence. Cultural competence is the ability to acquire specific behaviors, skills, attitudes, and policies in a system that permits “effective work in a cross-cultural setting” (OMH, 2013). Being culturally competent is essential because nurses who acknowledges and respects a patient’s health beliefs and practices are more likely to have positive health outcomes (OMH, 2012). Every culture has certain views and attitudes concerning

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.

The best way to combat prior-held stereotypes that providers have about minorities in the clinical setting is to completely integrate it into their medical education. Cultural competency curricula in medical schools should not be an additional class or lesson added on top of their normal classes. It should be integrated into every lesson and every discussion about disease and medical care. They should be taught to consider how their actions in every step of the clinical encounter can contribute to health disparities, and how to work against

7492). Furthermore, evidence of this inferior quality of health is found in the Institute of Medicine Report’s study of unequal treatment. This study illustrates the multiple areas in which minority individuals are discriminated against due to their racial and ethnic identities. The Institute of Medicine Report’s findings explain that:

            The world has become ethnically diverse owing to the increase in global mobility of the general population. Nevertheless, the nursing principles regarding the care of patients advocate for the development of cultural competence. While working with students from other programs, I realized the need for hospitals and health care agencies to accommodate the special needs of the culturally diverse populations. This is especially because we all as a team act as advocates for the

Cultural competence is not a new anomaly in nursing. Cultural competence is the ability to provide essential care to patients with backgrounds and belief systems different from our own. Being culturally sensitive is an important part of nursing practice and most employers of nurses usually have diversity training to help facilitate awareness at their healthcare facility. Diversity is prevalent in our society and we only need to look around at the peers we work with and the patients we care for to clearly understand this fact. Cultural differences and the lack of self-awareness about our own attitudes, beliefs, and biases, can negatively affect the nurse-patient communication, the patient’s quality of care, and their health outcome. The

As the population of the United States continues to become more diverse, healthcare providers should effectively communicate with each patient regardless of their culture, nationality, religion or socioeconomic status. Nurses and other providers should be delivering patient centered care that is culturally competent. “Culture also includes the integrated pattern of thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions associated, wholly or partially, with racial, ethnic, or linguistic groups, as well as with religious, spiritual, biological, geographical, or sociological characteristics” (Lamb, 2014, p. 132). Nurses are caring for a wide variety of culturally diverse

Cultural competence plays a significant role in health care delivery. There is a lack of cultural competence in the U.S. heath care. Despite current effort to deal with the issue, the problem still exist and many patients are suffering from it impact. Many people are not being able to get adequate care due to the lack of communication, languages, beliefs, values, perspective, and customs. Cultural competence barriers are critical in reducing health disparity. Those barriers include: lack of diversity in the healthcare settings, lack of system of care that can address the needs of various populations, inadequate communication between healthcare providers and patients of distinct ethnic, racial, language, belief, customs, religious, and cultural backgrounds.

As a healthcare professional it is important to be aware of the complex issues that shape the healthcare field. One of the major topics that have raised concern in healthcare is diversity. Diversity is having people of different race or different cultures together in a group or organization. Diversity extends beyond race and culture and encompasses differences related to age, gender, sexual orientation, education, income, social status, and so on (Blais & Hayes, 2016). Every healthcare organization has patients with diverse background whether it is healthcare workers or patients.

Healthcare, ever changing, has advanced to an era of progression in which it is becoming more and more common for radical change in all varieties of aspects of the process within which the health care system runs to occur. For many of us, there is the ever so present idea that constant change is necessary not only to stay competitive in regards to any other competitors in the same field of service, but also to also provide groundbreaking and innovative equalized opportunities and treatment of all. As modern day society becomes increasingly aware and active on the topic of equality, it is important for health care providers to remember that it is essential for there to be diversity within the culture imbedded in healthcare delivery systems. Many of the reasons that make the issue of culture a topic worth mentioning include, but are not limited to, the potential positive and/or negative impacts culture and diversity can have on the healthcare delivery system, the importance in staying up to date and staying competitive with other healthcare systems, and the internal factors that have a hold in the change of culture and whether or not it can be successfully maintained within the health care organization. As stated by B.E. Smith’s article Leadership Diversity: The Path to Value-Based Care, “Increasing the racial, ethnic, gender and generational diversity of health care leadership is essential for the provision of culturally competent,

Sensitivity to culture in health care, benefits delivery of care to the individual patient and can be a contribution to the larger undertaking of building a more tolerant multicultural society. This can be achieved by simply asking patients about their culture and beliefs or researching cultures that are prominent in the community where one is practicing. Cultural competence is learned over time and is a process of inner reflection and awareness. Possessing the skills, knowledge, and awareness, are essential proficiencies that must be gained by health care professionals. Although barriers to providing culturally sensitive care exist, gaining a better understanding of cultural competence is essential to developing realistic education and training techniques, which will lead to quality care for patients (Young & Guo, 2016).

This concept enables healthcare professionals to deliver services that are considerate and open-minded to health beliefs, practices and specific needs of diverse patients. (National Institute of Health, 2015) Cultural competency is an important concept in reducing

My diversity and culture are important to attributes for me in becoming a healthcare worker. These attributes help me understands the patient better and their emotions during the time. As a first generation Chinese immigrant, I was the one who my relatives would call if they have any help that involved English. Most of the trips involved hospital visits, after a few trips with my relatives when I was in my teenage years. I understood the emotions that my relatives go through. The constant worries that they had if their visit is covered if the condition is lasting, and their ability to continue to work. It was those trips to the doctor's office that helped me understand the things that people go through when they’re in the waiting room of a

Cultural minorities have more of a tendency to get an inferior quality of care than the

The underrepresentation of minority populations in the health care workforce negatively impacts the health of the population, civil rights, educational benefits and business gains (Grumbach & Mendoza, 2008). Research indicates healthcare workforce diversity (racial, ethnic, and linguistic) correlates with improved access to and quality of care for underrepresented populations, and those in medically undeserved areas (The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2008). As diversity in the US population maturates, it is important to increase the diversity in the healthcare workforce as well. There is a greater likelihood that patients will find providers who share their values, culture and speak their language (Moy & Freeman, 2014). Grumbach and Mendoza (2008) notes that it is important not to make the assumption that minorities have an unequalled ability to care for this population; when in fact it takes a collective effort of all health care personnel to reduce the health disparities that