1. While working in a healthcare setup, it becomes highly important to be able to work harmoniously with patients and colleagues belonging to various cultural, racial and ethnic groups. In order to self-assess my ability to do the same, I would ask my colleagues to observe my behaviour and pint out if its exhibits any form of cultural bias. I would also like to ask my patients if they feel that I behave in a culturally prejudiced way, and if yes, I would take note of my improper conduct, and rectify the same.
In order to enhance my understanding of cultural diversity, I try to mingle with people of varied ethnicity and origin. I do not let myself limit my friendship to the members of my community, and try to reach out to many people. I enrol myself in various cross-cultural training courses and seminars for enhancing my cultural sensitivity.
2. Most of the healthcare centres are trying their best to improve the issue of cultural diversity at the workplace. Amongst the multiple benefits that a healthcare centre can derive from the introduction of cultural diversity, the first and foremost one is the provision of excellent healthcare service to the patients. A healthcare centre by embracing cultural competence and diversity can adopt a variety of strategies for leveraging and responding to the rich diversity of human talent and aptitudes. Consequently, a variety of healthcare strategies can help the healthcare centre offer higher quality service as well. The second important benefit is that it helps in serving a wider range of patients, ultimately enhancing brand recognition of the organization and increasing its annual revenue. By eliminating any racial bias amongst the staffs, the healthcare centre can make its service accessible to a larger consumer base and improve provider-patient communication, leading to higher quality service.
3. It is highly important for a healthcare centre to create an environment that is at once safe and conducive. The maintenance of a safe environment helps in reflecting compassion and vigilance of the healthcare centre towards the welfare of the patients. Often the adverse healthcare events take place within the hospital, such as sudden accidents, fire breaking out at the centre, that can lead to patient death that have major financial consequences for the patient as well as the hospital authority. The issues of patient safety and occupational health are also important as these help in increasing employee productivity, making them more motivated, as they realize how the organization they work is concerned for their well-being.
The culturally competent healthcare service can always facilitate the patient and the organization alike by offering high quality and diverse methods of treatment. The racial and ethnic minorities have higher morbidity and mortality rates, and hence culturally competent staffs at healthcare centres can only serve these wide group of people. The importance of cultural competence in a healthcare centre lies in the fact that it enables the employees become more sensitive to the cultural differences while treating them.
4. In order to involve others from culturally diverse backgrounds, the human resource policy of the organization will have to be changed. First of all, a new recruitment policy has to be framed whereby reservations will be kept for people belonging to culturally diverse applicants. Next, get together sessions, fun activities such as picnics will be organized at least once a year to promote mutual respect and understanding amongst the members of different cultural and ethnic groups.
While communicating changes to the workplace policies, the employees are being made aware of the objectives, mission and vision of the organization that considers cultural diversity as an integral aspect of the organization. Next, the employees are also being summoned for meetings and professional training seminars that enhances their cultural sensitivity and increases their cultural awareness.
5. There is no point in denying the fact that working with culturally and linguistically diverse people can indeed be very challenging. However, in order to overcome the problem, the business organization will have to critically assess which cultural group do the maximum patients belong to, and accordingly train its employees through language and cultural training courses and seminars. A business organization also considers the idea of hiring a translator or an interpreter who can interpret what the other party is saying.
In order to prevent the problems of language barriers, in case of polite language, the staffs should be professionally trained both in-house as well as out-house, to develop their knowledge regarding some specific gestures, hand movements and behaviour that can improve their demeanour and make their words appear more polite. In order to train the employees regarding the social customs, the organization will need to arrange cultural seminars, conferences and workshops for the employees, so that these can expand the horizon of employee knowledge regarding the social customs of different cultural groups.
In case large number of consumers is coming from cultural groups, speaking in more than three different languages, an interpreter will be hired.
6. Once a Muslim patient came to our healthcare centre, and as part of their cultural belief system, the husband of the patient did not approve of the advanced and scientific method of treatment, and wanted to opt for herbal treatment. When he was being warned about the potential problems of using a herbal form of treatment, he claimed that the healthcare experts are not as efficient and competent as those residing in his native country. This indeed created cultural tension.
7. In case a potential cultural conflict occurs, it is possible that the people belonging to the less minor cultural group may suffer from a sense of low esteem, and may think that the cultural beliefs of their ethnic group are being disdained by the superior group of people. This may also give rise to ethnic tension.
In order to reduce the problems of such ethnic tension, the management authority has to come forward, identify the similarity and differences between the cultural practice of the provider and those of the person in conflict and accordingly acknowledge the differences and attempt to balance the interests of both the parties.
While offering healthcare service to a wide group of people, I have encountered multiple challenges, owing to linguistic as well as cultural barriers. The first incident that I would like to share in this context was the case of a young boy who was being diagnosed with serious heart problems, and hence it was being decided that he should undergo heart catheterization. Hence, a male nurse was being called by me, for shaving the groin area of the patient in presence of me and another female nurse. While for me, as member of a Western culture, this meant nothing except a ways of providing healthcare service, the patient objected to the presence of the female nurse, and started questioning the codes of conduct as followed in the healthcare centre. However, I was able to manage the entire situation, by quickly apologizing for the mistake and quickly asking the female nurse to leave the spot for the time being. I also explain the patient that our cultural beliefs and attitudes are different and hence we are apologetic for the inconvenience.
Another incident occurred when an Iraqi woman came for treatment owing to some neck problems. She had to undergo x-ray, and yet she was wearing the hijab (the veil) that she refused to take off in presence of me or anybody else. On being urged to remove the hijab, she was being found to be highly embarrassed and confused. Her husband, who accompanied her there, started protesting as well. In such a heated moment, I told the woman that the lab assistants would not diagnose her by looking at her when she takes off the hijab, but would rather keep their heads turned towards the wall. This can offer her the privacy she needs, without compromising with the healthcare service she requires as well.
On another occasion, a woman from Torres Strait Island came for seeking treatment for a chronic disease, and when she was being explained the course of treatment and the possible side effects, she was unable to understand the medical jargons, in English, as her native tongue was quite different from English or any traditionally accepted Australian language. In such a situation, I sought help from an interpreter who interpreted our conversation, simplified the technical terms for her, and made her understand the general overview of the situation.
Reference List:
Barello, Serena, Guendalina Graffigna, Elena Vegni, and A. C. Bosio. “The challenges of conceptualizing patient engagement in health care: a lexicographic literature review.” Journal of Participatory Medicine 6, no. 11 (2014).
Betancourt, Joseph R., Alexander R. Green, J. Emilio Carrillo, and I. I. Owusu Ananeh-Firempong. “Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care.” Public health reports 2016.
Betancourt, Joseph R., James Corbett, and Matthew R. Bondaryk. “Addressing disparities and achieving equity: cultural competence, ethics, and health-care transformation.” Chest Journal 145, no. 1 (2014): 143-148.
Black, Beth. Professional Nursing-E-Book: Concepts & Challenges. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2016.
Cherry, Barbara, and Susan R. Jacob. Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management. Elsevier Health Sciences, 2016.
Holloway, Immy, and Kathleen Galvin. Qualitative research in nursing and healthcare. John Wiley & Sons, 2016.
Jeffreys, Marianne R. Teaching cultural competence in nursing and health care: Inquiry, action, and innovation. Springer Publishing Company, 2015.
Renzaho, A. M. N., P. Romios, C. Crock, and A. L. Sønderlund. “The effectiveness of cultural competence programs in ethnic minority patient-centered health care—a systematic review of the literature.” International Journal for Quality in Health Care 25, no. 3 (2013): 261-269.
Truong, Mandy, Yin Paradies, and Naomi Priest. “Interventions to improve cultural competency in healthcare: a systematic review of reviews.” BMC health services research 14, no. 1 (2014): 99.
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