Cultural Conflicts In Nursing

As the nurse manager of an oncology unit, I often receive employee complaints. However, a recent confrontation has stuck my attention and after analyzing the situation many cultural conflicts seemed to present themselves. From the information I was given many of these complaints involve one of my nurses, Miryam, a 29-year-old Nigerian Muslim. Miryam is said to be slower than other nurses and takes too much time, as well as foisting her religion on to the patients she works with. From past incidences, Miryam, according to other nurses, shows little interest and doesn’t get involved with outside of work functions, such as the Christmas party or Beach Picnic held in July. Other nurses have also told me that during potlucks Miryam will participate

While talking with Miryam I learned that in the Nigerian culture it is important to show compassion while talking with others. Therefore, she uses this method while speaking with patients. Miryam stated that she likes to take her time and build a report with patients before she begins any health assessment. This method was contrastly different from the other nurses in the oncology unit. While talking with them they stated that they usually go in and do their job also mentioning that there is little time to talk. In addition to this, I also began talking with Miryam about how she deals with terminal illnesses. While talking with her she mentioned that in her culture it is extremely important to never give up hope. Therefore, Miryam’s response “that life is the most precious thing and [you] shouldn’t give up hope” to the family of the little boy on life support make sense considering her cultural background. This idea however, was contrastly different from Linda’s. While talking with Linda, a Portuguese nurse, she said that when a patient has a terminal illness she comforts the patient’s family while they decide the next steps for their loved one. Through this discussion with both employees I learned about various ways my employees interact with patients and in what ways we can improve our

In order to resolve the altercation between my two employees, Linda and Miryam I believe that it is incredible important to have a sit down discussion to discuss some of the problems that have been occurring at work. Through this conversation I hope that both employees will learn more about each other culture and religion and how it is brought into the workplace. I also hope that through this discussion they will be able to move on and work together. The second action plan that I created involves the integration of cultural workshops. With this program, employees will be given a paid training day where there is are informational guest speakers discussing many different cultural backgrounds and even some religious beliefs. Through this workshop employees will be able to learn more about their fellow employees as well as the patients they are working with. The third policy that I would like to integrate into the work space is a patient care workshop. With this workshop employees will be given situations within the work space and ways to resolve or respond to them. Having this workshop will help nurses and any health care providers when interacting with patients. With all of these methods I how to resolve any past issue and prevent any new ones from surfacing. Through this process I hope that my employees have learned something about culture and how it does play a major role in who we are and what we