Nursing
Introduction
Diversity in the workplace refers to the variation of characteristics of individuals within an organization. The definition may sound simple, but the term diversity itself encompasses factors such as race, gender, culture, cognitive style, educational background, and personal values. The aforementioned factors are imperative in determining how a person perceives themselves and other people in the organization. The difference is likely to affect the way each person interacts with another and the same can be said in the nursing work environment. The purpose of this paper is to examine diversity in the workplace that is relatively significant to nursing.
Importance of Diversity in the Nursing Workplace Environment
The importance of understanding workplace diversity in the nursing profession encompasses an opportunity to deliver quality care that adheres to the specific patient needs for emotional well-being and patient satisfaction (Adams and Price-Lea, 2004). The positive impact of diversity towards the provision of culturally competent nursing care transcends to clinical care where health outcomes are dependent of the care provider’s familiarity with the patient’s cultural background. Eliminating health disparities can be achieved if nurses have a clear understanding of the factors contributing to poor health. The nurses that belong to a specific ethnical background would be able to utilize their cultural experiences in delivering care to patients of the same ethnical background. On the other hand, nurses are expected to deliver quality care regardless of the patient’s ethnical association, which can be achieved by ensuring that nurses can relate to patient diversity (The Wisconsin Center for Nursing, 2013).
Influence of Diversity on Nursing Care
Creating diversity within the nursing workplace environment attracts the most competitive professional nursing candidates. However, in order to create an inclusive environment would assure adherence to standards of nursing care that observes cultural competency. The influence of diversity towards nursing workplace can be observed from the level of cultural competency demonstrated by nurses in delivering care. Diversity influences the nursing profession in terms of having a capacity for cultural assessment. Furthermore, diversity enables nurses to be more conscious about the dynamics that are inherent in cultural interaction (Bednarz et al., 2010). Lastly, workplace diversity influence organizations to establish institutionalized cultural knowledge to enable an effective adaptation of service delivery that encompasses understanding of cultural differences.
The Impact of Diversity Issues in Nursing Profession
Despite the positive influence of diversity towards service delivery, individual differences also causes certain issues particularly in the nursing profession. Issues arising from lack of understanding of diversity ranges from discrimination and inequality impact the nursing profession. When gender discrimination becomes an issue caused by diversity, the implication towards the nursing profession of discrimination can be a restriction on opportunities. Limitations in professional opportunity are made based on perceptions of traditional gender roles in older society. The same can be said about ethnical discrimination where minorities experience underrepresentation in the profession (Cordon, N.D.). The impact of underrepresentation varies from low-self esteem to lack of initiative to be more productive at work.
Impact of Underrepresentation of Minorities
Underrepresentation of minorities in the nursing profession has been a long-standing problem. Among the common implications of underrepresentation of minorities in the nursing profession is the prevalence of emotional and moral degradation. The lack thereof creates a barrier between nursing professionals, which constitutes a decrease in service efficiency (Beard and Volcy, 2013). Furthermore, the motional and negative moral implication of underrepresentation of minorities decreases the opportunities for professional nurses to connect with other nurses. As a result, developments in research and service improvement are likely to fail. Minorities in the profession such as Hispanics, Native American, Asians, and African Americans tend to isolate themselves from the rest of the nurses in the dominant culture. This creates a division among professionals, which hampers the probabilities of an organizational-wide cooperation and delivery of culturally competent nursing care.
Ethnicity as Important Aspect of Diversity
Ethnicity is among the various aspects that define the context of diversity. Ethnicity refers to the overall characteristics of a person’s cultural, demographic, and linguistic association. Physical attributes are also being used to describe an individual’s origin. This includes the color of the skin, language, physical aesthetics, cultural values, belief, religious background, and personal values. Ethnicity is also considered as a primary aspect that constitutes the basis of issues of discrimination not only within an organization, but also in the society as a whole. In the nursing profession, ethnicity is an issue wherein minority nurses (i.e. Hispanic, Asian, African-American, etc.) are facing scrutiny among other members of the organization. Given that nursing as a profession can influence policy making that in return can change standard practices (Borkowski et al., 2007). Knowledge about culture particularly about ethnical differences is detrimental in all levels of the practice. Ethnical knowledge can be considered as a skill that can help broaden and strengthen the effective delivery of care services. Ethnical background as described earlier has an inherent characteristic that can be detrimental to understanding patient conditions. For instance, nurses from various cultures have various approaches towards providing alternatives to care delivery.
Nurses often bring their personal values, beliefs, and cultural heritage. Ethnic background on the other hand encompasses specific philosophical view that sometimes may interfere in ensuring that care services are being delivered according to standard practices. Therefore, it is important that nurses understand that familiarity with various ethnical backgrounds may be able to enhance patient-nurse encounters (Council on Cultural Diversity in Nursing Practice, 1991). The importance of ethnicity as an aspect of diversity in the workplace is the same as giving importance to each individual’s cultural identity. Ethnocentric approach alone in nursing care practices would be ineffective without an adequate need to address diversity as a whole. Cultural diversity tends to give emphasis on the subject of differences. However, the concept of illness, care, wellness, and health as a whole also encompasses relation to cultural belief system. For example, understanding workplace diversity can be achieved if the nursing professionals would consider the values and beliefs upheld by fellow nurses as key source of information in delivering care.
Summary
The key points highlighted in the paper encompasses an overview about diversity in the workplace where, the collective differences of each members of the organization such as culture, ethnicity, values, and gender defines the quality of care delivery. Workplace diversity constitutes influence towards the nursing profession in terms of advocating effective collaboration for continuous service improvement initiative. Underrepresentation of minorities in the profession is considered as foregoing problem, which can be resolved by adequate understanding of the concepts of competent nursing.
References
Adams, V. A., & Price-Lea, P. J. (2004). A Critical Need for a More Diverse Nursing Workforce. NC Med J, 65(2), 98-100. Retrieved from http://www.ncmedicaljournal.com/wp-content/uploads/NCMJ/mar-apr-04/Adams.pdf
Beard, K. V., & Volcy, K. (2013). Increasing Minority Representation in Nursing. AJN, American Journal of Nursing, 113(2), 11. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000426668.44751.f8
Bednarz, H., Schim, S., & Doorenbos, A. (2010). Cultural Diversity in Nursing Education: Perils, Pitfalls, and Pearls. Journal of Nursing Education, 49(5), 253–260. doi:10.3928/01484834-20100115-02
Borkowski, N., Amann, R., Song, S. H., & Weiss, C. (2007). Nurses' intent to leave the profession: issues related to gender, ethnicity, and educational level. Health Care Manage Rev, 32(2), 160-167. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17438399
Cordon, C. (n.d.). Structural Inequality and Diversity in Nursing | Minority Nurse [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.minoritynurse.com/article/structural-inequality-and-diversity-nursing
Wisconsin Center for Nursing. (2013). Enhancing Diversity in the Nursing Workforce. Retrieved from wisconsincenterfornursing.org website: http://www.wisconsincenterfornursing.org/documents/2013%20WCN%20DiversityReport_final.pdf
