Improving the Diversity of the Health Care Workforce

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

The population of the USA is very diverse, as the country is a home for numerous minorities. Significant demographic changes associated with the increased amount of tourists, expatriates, and immigrants require providers to understand their values and beliefs. In this way, they can develop positive patient-provider relationships and improve the quality of care.

Even though some initiatives aimed at the development of cultural diversity in healthcare have been already implemented, they are not enough to meet the need of all patients. Thus, there is a critical necessity to improve this situation. On the basis of this information the following research question can be developed: what are the most important steps that should be made by healthcare management to enhance cultural diversity in the sphere and meet the needs of minorities?

According to Leininger’s culture care theory, healthcare professionals are to learn about and adapt to people’s everyday way of life, their health issues, and beliefs in order to meet their needs and facilitate the improvement of their health condition. In this way, it is vital to consider “culture care preservation and or maintenance, culture care accommodation and or negotiation and culture care restructuring and or repatterning” (Russell et al. 1). In addition to that, Papadopoulos, Tilki, and Taylor state that the successful development of cultural competence can be achieved when its four components are addressed, including “1) cultural awareness, 2) cultural knowledge, 3) cultural sensitivity and 4) cultural practice” (Kouta et al. 2). Thus, the topic of interest is supported by Leininger’s culture care theory and Papadopoulos, Tilki, and Taylor’s model. Both of them emphasize the necessity of providing culturally competent care and services to patients.

Literature Review

Changing demographics of the USA requires healthcare professionals improve cultural diversity, as the representatives of the U.S. Census Bureau believe that minorities will turn into majorities in less than 40 years, and the country will be full of Hispanics, Africans, and Asians, etc. (King). All these people have particular views and believe that are inherited due to their cultures and affect their decision-making associated with healthcare. In order to provide the best possible services, practitioners need to understand and accept different ideas: instead of emphasizing the necessity to follow their recommendations even though they interfere with people’s beliefs, they should adapt to culturally diverse client population. Healthcare management teams can implement numerous initiatives to facilitate this process.

In order to promote cultural competence in a healthcare organization, its management should develop training programs for health practitioners, ensuring that all of them learn information about US minorities (Health Research & Educational Trust 3). Moreover, specific education aimed at the development of patients’ understanding of the way healthcare system works can be advantageous. Nevertheless, the main focus should focus on physicians and nurses. In addition to cultural peculiarities, they should learn at least the basics and most frequently used phrases in foreign languages, such as Spanish. The possibility of providing interpreter services should also be considered because adverse healthcare outcomes can be observed if providers and clients fail to understand one another. Patient navigators can be appointed to assist foreigners who receive healthcare services (Truong et al. 110).

Reconsideration of recruiting can encourage more representatives of minorities to choose a profession from the sphere of healthcare. For now, more than 90% of physicians are European Americans, which presupposes that it can be difficult for them to address the needs of other cultures (Fantacone). However, hiring other populations, the management can receive an opportunity to avoid the necessity of additional training or at least simplify it.

Thus, it is vital for the healthcare system to become culturally competent and address cultural diversity of patients. The management should ensure that practitioners are able to adapt to the needs of various clients. Patient education can also have positive effects on relationships between consumers and providers.

Works Cited

Fantacone, Julia. “Looking To the Future: Improving the Diversity of the Health Care Workforce.” Altarum, 2014. Web.

Health Research & Educational Trust. Becoming a Culturally Competent Health Care Organization. 2013. Web.

King, Meredith. “The Importance of Cultural Diversity in Health Care.”UVM, 2014. Web.

Kouta, Christina, et al. “Improving the Cultural Competence Level of Community Nurses through an Intervention.” Journal of Family Medicine, vol. 3, no. 9, pp. 1088-1093.

Russell, Ron, et al. “Reflecting on Transcultural Care; Culture Care Theory and Mental Health Nursing.” Austin Journal of Nursing & Health Care, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 1-4.

Truong, Mandy, et al. “Interventions to improve cultural competency in healthcare: a systematic review of reviews.” BMC Health Services Research, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 99-116.

Click Here To Order Now!

Improving the Diversity of the Health Care Workforce

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)