How to write an essay on Nursing Diversity

How to write an essay on Nursing Diversity

Introduction: Nurses make up the majority of the healthcare workforce. They are primarily found in nursing stations, screening sites, exam rooms, and at a patient’s bedside. Being at the frontline of patient care, nurses’ communication is critical to creating a positive patient healthcare experience. Nurses communication is demonstrated through how they treat the patients, listen to them and even explain medical concepts to them. In doing so, nurses need to be comfortable enough with the patient to do so. Factors such as age difference, culture, race, gender and living situation can have an impact on the level of nurses’ comfort when communicating with a patient.

Factors affecting nurses’ comfort when communicating with patients

The age difference is a significant factor affecting patient-nurse communication, and this is primarily due to differences in attitudes towards health, disease, and body function among different generations. As a nurse, I would be more comfortable communicating with a patient within my age group since we’d share most similar views and beliefs in health; thus, finding common ground is more effortless. Norouzinia et al. (2017) suggest that nurses can overcome this barrier by developing awareness of the existing differences in attitudes towards health and disease in each age group.

Race and culture go hand in hand when it comes to communication barriers. Patients have demonstrated a lack of trust in healthcare providers they perceive as having racial and cultural biases. These perceptions are reinforced by the constant unfair treatment of minority groups when they interact with the healthcare system. A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2020 revealed that a higher percentage of blacks than whites expressed that it was hard for them to find a health provider who treats them with dignity and respect (O’Neal, 2020). Additionally, most blacks said that they would be comfortable being treated by a black health provider compared to a white one. Since this factor is more problematic on the patient’s side, as a nurse, I would be comfortable interacting with a patient who is first comfortable with me being their healthcare provider, despite my racial and cultural background.

Gender difference is another factor that affects patient-nurse communication, and this factor is mostly more problematic to the patients than nurses (Norouzinia et al., 2017). When a patient is uncomfortable sharing certain information, the nurse will not get the entire history, and some critical information to health care management might be omitted. Some patients prefer a particular gender to be their nurse throughout their hospital stay. For example, patients of the Islamic religion prefer being taken care of by nurses of the same gender.

How older adults were treated

While growing up in the 1970s, my family treated older adults with respect. They were considered to have wisdom on various issues due to their experience in them. This included healthcare matters where most traditional birth attendants in my community were older women. Younger women would consult them before even going to the hospital on the issues of childbirth. My community collectively participated in taking care of older adults. For example, those who could not afford older adults’ homes were under the care of young adults and children in the community. Society generally views this population as vulnerable; therefore, they should be taken care of by addressing their basic needs and making them feel loved.

References

Norouzinia, R., Aghabarari, M., Shiri, M., Karimi, M., & Samami, E. (2016). Communication barriers perceived by nurses and patients. Global journal of health science, 8(6), 65.

O’Neal, L. (2020). Half of Black adults say they won’t take a coronavirus vaccine. The Undefeated.

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