Research Proposal

2

RESEARCH QUESTION

The impact of nursing diversity in patient care on the medical-surgical floor

NAME

Department of Nursing,

COURSE

PROFESSOR

DATE

Problem

Diversity in healthcare is crucial to patient care and quality. In an increasingly interconnected and multicultural world, healthcare institutions must provide equitable and culturally competent care to various patients (Schouten et al., 2023). To achieve this goal, the nursing workforce, one of healthcare delivery's largest and most important aspects, must represent community diversity. Diversity creates a more inclusive and representative healthcare environment and can improve patient care and quality (Taylan & Weber, 2022). However, a pressing concern in contemporary healthcare is the persistent lack of diversity within nursing. Underrepresented racial and ethnic groups and gender diversity in nursing have sparked concerns about its effects on patient health outcomes (Kozhimannil et al., 2021). The subject of this research is to investigate nursing diversity and its impact on patient care on the medical-surgical floor.

Impact

Kozhimannil et al. (2021) conducted a study using a quantitative approach to explore how racial and ethnic diversity in nursing affects maternity care and found positive benefits of nursing diversity on maternity care outcomes. The result showed that more nursing staff with racial and cultural diversity improved minority population maternity care outcomes, indicating that culturally competent and patient-centered care is more likely when healthcare teams reflect more on their various patient populations. These findings emphasize the importance of diversity in resolving acute healthcare inequities, especially in circumstances where maternal health outcomes are still racially and ethnically disparate. This study underscores the need to recognize nursing diversity and actively promote policies and practices that increase diversity in the acute healthcare industry to improve patient care.

Furthermore, intercultural communication skills are increasingly important in a global healthcare system with varied patients. Schouten et al., (2023) examined interventions to teach healthcare personnel intercultural communication skills to improve care for culturally and linguistically diverse patients. The study showed how vital and significant role of culturally competent healthcare workers in patient care. Healthcare professionals, who get intercultural communication training improve their ability to handle linguistic and cultural disparities, improving patient experiences and health outcomes (Schouten et al., 2023). This study emphasizes the importance of diversity in ensuring healthcare teams have the cultural competence to provide high-quality care to different patient groups.

Potential Results

This research may provide pertinent information about nursing diversity and its potential impacts on patient care on the medical-surgical floor. The result may also help identify gaps in our current understanding of the topic being studied and make concerned policymakers and hospital management aware of the need for further studies to better understand this essential healthcare issue. Moreover, the result may reveal how a diverse nursing team from different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds leads to more equitable care by bringing positive work and emphasizing the importance of diversity in the medical-surgical floor. It may demonstrate how nurses from different cultural groups might build more rapport with patients from other cultural groups. Moreover, the result of this research may help recognize the challenges of nursing diversity, especially in intercultural communication, help address the health disparity issue, and improve marginalized populations' health.

Research Question

How does diversity within nursing staff impact patient care on a medical-surgical floor?

Appropriate Method

The research will employ a descriptive qualitative method to provide a comprehensive understanding of the impact of nursing diversity on patient care on medical medical-surgical floor. In the descriptive qualitative method, researchers want to gain an in-depth understanding of a specific group or subpopulation, often with shared experiences, opinions, or characteristics (Prosen, 2022). According to Polit & Beck (2022), the qualitative research method will help to guide future strategies by aiding ongoing analysis.

Descriptive qualitative data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with diverse nurses. Participants will give informed consent before interviews. Interviews will be conducted in person or by secure video conferencing depending on participant preferences and logistics. An interview guide will include open-ended questions to enable participants to contribute their experiences, thoughts, and narratives. Some of the open-ended questions to nurses could be “How do you think nursing diversity impacts patient care?” “What are some of the benefits of having a diverse nursing team?” Qualitative interviews will be audio-recorded and transcribed word for word for thematic analysis. Thematic analysis is used to explore and understand underlying patterns, meanings, and experiences of interviews, and focus group discussions to examine qualitative data (Shepherd et al., 2019).

References

Kaihlanen, A.-M., Hietapakka, L., & Heponiemi, T. (2019). Increasing cultural awareness: Qualitative study of nurses’ perceptions about cultural competence training. BMC Nursing, 18(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-019-0363-x

Kozhimannil, K. B., Almanza, J., Hardeman, R., & Karbeah, J. (2021). Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Nursing Workforce: A Focus on Maternity Care. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 152715442110057. https://doi.org/10.1177/15271544211005719

Polit, D., & Beck, C. (2022). Essentials of nursing research: Appraising evidence for nursing practice. (10th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Medical

Prosen, M. (2022). Nursing students’ perception of gender-defined roles in nursing: a qualitative descriptive study. BMC Nursing, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00876-4

Schouten, B. C., Manthey, L., & Scarvaglieri, C. (2023). Teaching intercultural communication skills in healthcare to improve care for culturally and linguistically diverse patients. Patient Education and Counseling, 115, 107890. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2023.107890

Shepherd, S. M., Willis-Esqueda, C., Newton, D., Sivasubramaniam, D., & Paradies, Y. (2019). The challenge of cultural competence in the workplace: perspectives of healthcare providers. BMC Health Services Research, 19(1), 1–11. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-019-3959-7

Taylan, C., & Weber, L. T. (2022). “Don’t let me be misunderstood”: communication with patients from a different cultural background. Pediatric Nephrology, 38(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-022-05573-7