The Aspects of Diversity in Nursing

The Aspects of Diversity in Nursing

Hello Class

To my understanding, diversity is the process by which nurses delivers services to meet the diverse needs of the patients, carers and service users. Diversity in nursing is significant as it boosts the delivery of quality care to the patients. Some of diversity aspects in nursing includes physical characteristics, national origin, education status, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, ethnic heritage, religion, age, disability, race, veteran status and gender. Understanding the concept of diversity improves communication between a health professional and the patient (Ashton et al 2003). However, health facilities continue to face varying barriers to provide care to diverse clients

Irrespective of potential benefits of diversity in care delivery, Campinha-Bacote (2002) explains that the uptake of standards related to linguistically and culturally appropriate care delivery is slow. One major challenge is the build-up stereotypes where nurses already have predetermined perception about an individual based on their culture. This creates the need of employing diverse workforce as one person cannot relate to every cultural background. Negative pressures may be present among patients due to their social environment which would challenge their health seeking behavior.

Being a Filipino and working in a diverse environment, I deliver care to persons of different cultural and religious background. Nonetheless, I have Identified the strong desires for Filipinos to be cared by Filipinos, and the ease in communication while dealing with a patient from similar cultural background. Nonetheless, I believe that all patients are equal and deserve quality delivery. This has led me to always form a rapport while dealing with my patients, trying to understand their culture before taking the vital signs. Through this it is possible to identify the cultural background of the individuals, some health beliefs if any and some of the strategies to employ to ensure they are comfortable. 

Reference

Ashton, C., Haidet, P., Paterniti, D., Collins, T., Gordon, H., & O’Malley, K. et al. (2003). Racial and ethnic disparities in the use of health services. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(2), 146-152. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.20532.x

Campinha-Bacote, J. (2002). The Process of Cultural Competence in the Delivery of Healthcare Services: A Model of Care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 13(3), 181-184.