Assignment 07: Prepare a Working Draft

Curtis Hill

Assignment 03: Research Topic

HA3300D - Healthcare Policy and Ethics

Robert Kane

October 25, 2020

Narrow Topic Selection

Broad topic

Appreciating cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment

Appreciating cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment is as essential as offering healthcare, primarily because culture-sensitive healthcare offers healthcare. Nurses and physicians that fail to appreciate cultural diversity and differences ignore and overlook the role culture and family play in healthcare (Purnell & Fenkl, 2019). For example, according to the Muslim culture, women must not be seen by male doctors and nurses unless they are their husbands or brothers. Muslim women forced to receive treatment from male doctors, and nurses often reject the care offered to them as they feel that their culture has been disrespected (Mujallad & Taylor, 2016). consequentially, such women take longer to heal from their ailments and strain the health sector more than necessary. By appreciating cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment, the medical sector stands to offer health holistically.

Narrow topic

Ensuring that health care practitioners are equipped to handle cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment

The topic focuses on assessing the measures in place and the development of measures to ensure that health care practitioners are equipped to handle cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment. The questions that need to be asked in the study include

1. Are health practitioners equipped with the knowledge to handle cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment?

2. Are their measures that medical institutions have put in place to encourage and appreciate cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment

3. What can health practitioners and their institutions do to ensure that cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment are respected and considered?

Ethical Issues around the topic

There are two main ethical issues around the narrow topic. The first issue is on the patient-physician relationship. According to Mikkonen et al. (2016), the second issue is whether enforcing cultural diversity and differences in the medical environment will push for patients demanding personalized care under the disguise of culture.

References

Mikkonen, K., Elo, S., Kuivila, H. M., Tuomikoski, A. M., & Kääriäinen, M. (2016). Culturally and linguistically diverse healthcare students' learning experiences in a clinical environment: A systematic review of qualitative studies. International journal of nursing studies, 54, 173-187.Retrieved from: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020748915001984

Mujallad, A., & Taylor, E. J. (2016). Modesty among Muslim women: Implications for nursing care. Medsurg Nursing, 25(3), 169. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/openview/ed56df097fd4b99c2ec8d85dddd68bc1/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=30764

Purnell, L. D., & Fenkl, E. A. (2019). Transcultural diversity and health care. In Handbook for Culturally Competent Care (pp. 1-6). Springer, Cham.Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-21946-8_1