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The many faces of diversity in healthcare
The many faces of diversity in healthcare
Reflection on diversity in health care
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Completing the Attitude scale, confirmed of how I believe about biases towards other people especially when taking care of my patients. I was born from another country so I know how it is like to have different culture, opinion, or belief. Everyone is entitled to his or her beliefs or opinions, but as a nurse I try not to impose my personal values or beliefs on a patient considering how diversified our health care is. Personally I like to learn about other cultures and beliefs, it amazes me to learn new things, so when it come to my patients, I am more likely to ask questions and learn a thing or two than imposing my belief on them. sex orientation, abortion, or breastfeeding, these are sensitive issues and I try to see the person as God
McClimens, A., Brewster, J., & Lewis, R. (2014). Recognising and respecting patients ' cultural diversity. Nursing Standard (2014+), 28(28), 45.
- Nurse should place the patients well being above their personal beliefs and values. They should focus on treating the patient and making sure the patient’s needs are being met. This also means that tough decisions have to be made in the process whether it goes against what the health care team wants or it goes against what Mrs. Dawson wants.
Provision 8 also states, “The nurse also recognizes that health care is provided to culturally diverse populations in this country and in all parts of the world. In providing care, the nurse should avoid imposition of the nurse’s own cultural values upon others.” (Nursing World, 2001). The ANA Code of Ethics does not explicitly define diversity. However, in clinical settings, I strongly believe that I am continually being exposed to people of diverse backgrounds – socioeconomic status, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc. As a student nurse and a future nurse, I will set aside my own bias and view my world through a panoramic lens in order to provide quality care with sensitivity to others. As a student ...
It is important we understand how words and actions affect others. When given a cue from a patient, acknowledging we may have offended them may be difficult, but it’s also necessary in order to repair the potential break in the relationship. These cues may present themselves in the manifestation of a confused look, physically withdrawing away from the nurse, crossed arms, looking away, and other expressions of retreat. Taking a moment to sit beside a patient, not being afraid to hold their hand when appropriate, making eye contact when culturally appropriate, creating a warm and comfortable environment where the patient feels free to speak openly about their concerns without fear of judgment are just a few examples of ways we help the patient understand we are not sitting in judgment. Be willing to ask questions, though mindful of our tone and chosen words so as not to negate their truth and reality of the situation. Understand not all questions will be answered and that by simply asking, one may feel offended, and we should be willing to acknowledge the offense. We all have thoughts about other people, good and bad, positive and negative. How we express those thoughts, how express ourselves physically and verbally, how we communicate with our patient helps sets the tone of what we get back. Entering a room with a personal bias
Cultural awareness is defined as, “an in-depth self-examination of ones own background, recognizing biases, prejudices, and assumptions about other people” (Potter, Perry, Stockert, & Hall, 2013). Having biases can cause a person to act of have certain feelings towards a group of people without realizing it. To a person that does not understand a certain group or culture, some rituals may be observed as superstitious or odd, but to the participant that ritual may be of high importance or a way of healing (Ferweda, 2016). Understanding these practices and learning about why they are performed is a good way to prevent biased views. People from racially and diverse groups suffer with increased rates of illness and disabilities due to lack of healthcare access and education compared to other populations (Loftin, C., Hartin, V., Branson, M., & Reyes, H., 2013). One of the essential interventions to reverse this is education for nurses about how to achieve culturally competent care in the nursing profession (Loftin, C., Hartin, V., Branson, M., & Reyes, H.,
I also liked being able to explore and think further about some of the statements in the assessment that I have not thought about for some time or do not think about frequently. In regards to the first weakness, I certainly have been stereotyped throughout my life, as I am sure all of us have in some way or another. I generally feel that people’s perceptions are what they are. They are entitled to think how they think, believe what they believe, and I am not one to take a lot of energy to try to change that or change how I am perceived. On the other hand, if I come across someone pretty negative and possibly even victimizing or bullying me, I am more apt to take action and will explore appropriate attempts at changing their perceptions. Otherwise, I put forth my best effort to accept people as they are with their own thoughts, values, and beliefs and try to find common ground, get along, and work together. The second weakness of my tendency to be “color blind” is something that is an eye opener for me. I have pretty much always basically felt that it was not negative to view someone without considering their culture. I am glad to have this brought to my attention in this course and I can work on it. The impact that these weaknesses could possibly have on my nursing care are that in taking lightly other’s perceptions of me, I
As I reflect on my nursing education I recognize that I have unknowingly created a set of values and beliefs for myself, that align with the vision and mission of Seattle University College of Nursing (SUCON) and the American Nurses Association Code of Ethics. The aspects of my personal philosophy have been molded by my education, my interactions with patients, family members, and healthcare professionals at my clinical sites. As I transition into my role as a nurse, I will hold strong to my beliefs, as they will shape the care I provide.
Interpersonal skills are the life skills we use every day to communicate and interact with people. “To effectively communicate we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding to guide to our communication with others.” (Anthony Robbin). It is important for the nurse to be aware of the effects of their personal values and beliefs can have on their patients. For example working in a surgical ward a nurse was discussing with other colleagues about a certain patient who was in the holding bay, talking negatively about her lifestyle choices, when approaching the patient for the first time when arriving into the suite, she refused treatment from any of the nurse staff on the shift as she was upset at the things the nurse had said. First impressions influence people’s judgments of others...
I believe that we should always think of others needs and do no harm to others even if they have harmed you in some way. I treat others the way that I would want them to treat me and I expect that others will treat me the same way. I understand that not everyone feels the same as I do and that I cannot control the way that others decide to treat me. I show compassion for everyone I come in contact with and I treat every patient the same way despite the fact that they may be unruly or even try to hurt me. I have accepted the fact that there are some people out there who will try to hurt me despite the fact that all I want to do is help them. I feel that everyone in the health care profession should feel the same way as I do and try to keep themselves from losing their mercy that they show towards others. After being in the health care field for so long, many people stop caring for others and become detached from the patients. I agree that we cannot take every case personally but we still need to retain our humanity and continue to show compassion to fellow
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
Physicians routinely make crucial decisions about medical care for patients whose lives hang in the balance. In the face of such high stakes, it may be surprising to think that automatic associations can unknowingly bias professional decision-making. One study compared implicit racial bias between White American doctors and Black American doctors and found that “African American doctors, on average, did not show an implicit preference for either Blacks or Whites…” The implicit racial biases of White physicians also seem to play a role in predicting how positively or negatively Black patients respond to the medical interaction (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19648715) (Penner, Dovidio, West, Gaertner, Albrecht, Daily, & Markova, 2010), (Penner, L., Dovidio, J., West, T., Gaertner, S., Albrecht, T., Dailey, R., & Markova, T. (2010). Aversive racism and medical interactions with Black patients: A field study- Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 436-440). Organizations can do many things like providing training implicit bias and diversity; seek to identify consciously the differences between different groups and individuals; and increasing emphasis on the education of social issues such as stereotyping and
The Values and Motives Questionnaire (VMQ) manual explained two types of reliability that they utilized to assess the consistency of the assessment: test-retest reliability and homogeneity reliability (Psytech, 2016). The test-retest reliability assesses compares the scales that occurred at two or more separate testings, whereas the homogeneity assesses if the items within the test are similar in their ability to test the target attribute. (Drummond, Sheperis, & Jones, 2016). The two types of validity the VMQ manual acknowledged wereconstruct and criterion validity (Psytech, 2016). Construct validity is an assessment that tests if the target attribute is effectively being measured. The test needs to reflect meaning and be consistent with other established tests measuring the same attribute. Criterion validity measures the tests ability to predict the target attribute successfully, this is especially important since most assessment are given in order to predict wellness or behaviors (Drummond et al., 2016). The primary reliability assessment used to portray reliability in the manual is the homogeneity. It was reported that all of the scales have a strong measurement, except for achievement and infrequency (Psychnet, 2016). This means that of all the sub-categories that are in the VMQ are asking questions that are similar in their measurement of the target category. For validity, the inter-correlations were assessed. The results indicated that the sub-scales did not directly impact each other and that they did measure the specific sub-scales they were intending to measure (Psychnet, 2016).
I had never recognized a personal bias of mine; however, I am sure it has been with me since before entering this program. My personal bias is against drug addicted caretakers. I have long unconsciously felt like victims of drug addiction somehow cause their own misfortune by being unable to stop abusing a narcotic. Moreover, even deeper than that, I feel as if their inability to take control of their addiction, even after seeing the affects it has on their family and friends, is a sign of selfish and self-centered
My core values and beliefs are honesty, caring, family, and lifelong learning, which I use every day in my life. The core of nursing is caring, knowledge, and integrity that focuses on the patient’s needs, healing, safety, and encouragement. Personal and professional beliefs overlap the driving force of nursing. The qualities of a good nurse are not or cannot be turned off and on, and are part of the person I am. We are just helping hands that are always striving to help others. I am not perfect. I am a human being and sometimes mistakes will be made, but I always try my best. If something goes wrong, I will examine the situation, and learn from it to make me a better nurse than I was before. I will monitor and reflect on my own actions to ensure that I am staying true to what I believe are the best nursing practices. When we find conflicts between our personal beliefs and those of the patient, we should uphold our personal and professional ethical standards. We should find someone to guide us through our conflict to find a solution that will not compromise our own
Although a values set which includes love, honesty, goodness, kindness, self-control, and peace seem non-controversial, identifying those values with Christianity makes them controversial. It is important professionally to be sensitive to others, colleagues or patients, while not compromising one’s own values and creating distress. Recognizing that I personally and professionally provide an example of standards valuable to the nursing profession is important on this journey to advanced practice nursing. I do enjoy the time that I spend with those who believe and behave similar to me, but I also enjoy providing compassion and kindness to those who believe and behave differently, whether those differences are based on culture, religion, age, or life