Addressing Bias in the Clinical Environment

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The Danger of Bias
Author’s Bias
Strategy to Reduce Bias
References

Introduction

Bias in the clinical environment is a huge social problem that poses a threat to the professional provision of quality medical services. The staff of the clinical organization, demonstrating a bias towards the patient, endangers not only their health of them but also the reputation of the provider. Taking into account the fact that in today’s world, such an attitude is unacceptable and humiliating to human dignity, it is important to discuss strategies to prevent any manifestations of bias. This essay is aimed at investigating the causes and manifestations of bias in the professional medical environment and a solution that has the potential to inhibit an undesirable phenomenon.

The Danger of Bias

The phenomenon of bias is an important problem in the modern clinical environment, which must be condemned and discouraged. According to Quinlan (2019), medical bias is defined as a situation in which one party — mainly a healthcare provider — is biased towards its opponent and makes decisions, not in their favor. In practice, such situations are expressed as disrespectful communication with the client, deliberate disregard for the interests of the patient or their family, or demonstrative unfriendly behavior (Agrawal & Enekwechi, 2020). The cognitive purpose of this phenomenon is to show how unpleasant the patient is to the medical staff and how prejudiced and arrogant the professional treats the patient. The situation is especially acute when the bias is manifested by a family practicing nurse, who provides daily patient care. In such terms, it should be recognized that the nurse is a source of medical knowledge for all family members, and inappropriate behavior of the employee has more risks since it is affected by several objects at once.

Author’s Bias

Despite the existence of a theoretically ideal model of a medical professional devoid of any form of bias, it would be wrong to assume that such behavior is widespread. On the contrary, healthcare professionals are individuals who have their prejudices, opinions, and biases, which should, nevertheless, be inhibited during work. As a family nurse practitioner, the author of this essay has encountered medical bias, whether from colleagues or their own. In particular, the examples concerned the ethnic or religious characteristics of the patient. For instance, the author remains convinced that representatives of Latin American cohorts and Muslim denominations are more likely to be problematic patients who require special care. Muslims seem to be the hardest hit on the choice of a health care provider, so whenever a patient was a member of Islam or a Latin American ethnic group, the author experienced some embarrassment and fear. This may have given rise to an inherently reflexive response to any similar patient, which is not acceptable to a professional.

Strategy to Reduce Bias

The first step in the fight against bias in recognition of this fact and an internal desire for change. The author is aware that prejudice against a Latino or Muslim patient must be eliminated, so they are willing to consider strategies to reduce bias. The main solution in this context is to revise life attitudes and intensify communication with representatives of these groups (Stone & Moskowitz, 2011). In particular, the author could visit thematic conferences, make acquaintances, or deeply study the patient’s culture to change their attitude towards them. An excellent solution would be to visit a Muslim country during a vacation to integrate into this environment and better understand the needs of patients (Bucknor-Ferron & Zagaja, 2016). Only the synthesis of one’s metamorphosis and willingness to accept new ideas can reduce bias in the medical environment.

References

Agrawal, S., & Enekwechi, A. (2020). It’s time to address the role of implicit bias within health care delivery. Health Affairs. Web.

Bucknor-Ferron, P., & Zagaja, L. (2016). Five strategies to combat unconscious bias. Nursing2019, 46(11), 61-62.

Stone, J., & Moskowitz, G. B. (2011). Non-conscious bias in medical decision making: What can be done to reduce it? Medical Education, 45(8), 768-776. Web.

Quinlan, C. (2019). Bias in medicine – An untreated epidemic. Patient Empowerment Network. Web.

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Addressing Bias in the Clinical Environment

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