Nursing 5

1

Healthcare

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Course Details

Instructor’s Name

Date

Healthcare

Health inequity is a serious healthcare problem that negatively affects everyone. This problem worsens the health outcomes of the population it directly impacts and those with resources and power. For instance, health disparity makes it hard to control, contain and treat infections illnesses, like the Covid-19, therefore putting everyone at risk of contracting the disease regardless of their socioeconomic class. Culture plays a critical role in patient care and health outcomes and affects our perception of others, health behaviors, and expectations during care delivery. This paper discusses health inequalities, advocacy for families, patients, and community, and cultural competencies. Comment by lola siyanbola: Can you explain how?

Health inequalities involve differences in health resources' distribution of health between different population groups resulting from social conditions in which members of the population are born, live, grow, work and age. The inequalities are basically the systematic differences in the status of health between population groups (Marmot, 2017). The inequalities have substantial economic and social costs to both persons and communities. Social factors including employment status, education level, gender, ethnicity, and level of income affect an individual's health status, therefore creating health disparities among populations due to variations of the social factors (Malbon, 2019). Lower socioeconomic status is associated with poor health outcomes. The appropriate combination of government policies can address these health disparities. Comment by lola siyanbola: This is a fact can you rephrase or cite Comment by lola siyanbola: This is too vague, can you elaborate a little?

I would advocate for patients by connecting them with resources outside and inside the hospital to support their wellbeing and double-check for errors to identify, stop, and correct errors to ensure their safety (Doucette et al., 2018). I would educate the patients on the best way to manage their health conditions and improve their quality of life. Protecting patients' rights and giving them a voice, particularly when vulnerable, is key to safe and quality patient care. I would advocate for families by utilizing my expertise to persuade the hospital authorities about the economic position of the family, their educational level, and their cultural values about patient care. I would advocate for the community by working to ensure community members are adequately and fairly treated in all matters of health.

The first Implicit Association Tests (IAT) reveals that I hold a moderate automatic preference for Arab Muslims with 26% over Other People. This means that I am likely to respond moderately respond faster to the care needs of patients from the Arap Muslim compared to other patients. It means I pay close attention when treating this patient group than patients from other groups. The second results suggest that I hold a moderate automatic preference of 25% for people who are straight compared to gay patients. This affects the level of patient care given to gay patients compared to straight individuals. This demonstrates that I am more likely to ignore gay patients than I would with straight individuals. The third test shows no automatic preference on cisgender or transgender; therefore, when providing care between the two populations, I am likely to be fair and equally respond to their care needs. The fourth results of IAT suggest a slight automatic preference of 29% toward Christianity over Muslim. This man, I would attend Christian patient more closely than I would to a Muslim patient. Comment by lola siyanbola: Can you revise this? Please go through the paper I pasted below.

The fifth test demonstrates that I have a slight automatic preference for white patients of 27% over African Americans. This ill perception could have been contributed by the general society's negative perception of blacks and the even bad influence of mass communication from a young age. This translates to how I would attend to care needs faster for white patients than the blacks. The sixth test demonstrates a moderate automatic preference for European Americans over Asian Americans. This means I would be quicker attending an American patient of European origin than an Asian American patient.

I am a culturally competent person because when handling patients and community members, I often examine myself, try to avoid prejudgments, and develop the right attitudes towards a particular foreign culture by boosting my cultural awareness (Park & Yoo, 2019). I improve my cultural knowledge by searching for patient cultural information for better understanding before developing a care plan. I have cultural skills that help in engaging the patients in meaningful cross-cultural communication and interaction with patients (Andrews & Boyle, 2002). Interacting with patients from different cultures provides a cultural encounter which is a critical component of cultural competence. Comment by lola siyanbola: Are these your words or a quote? This looks like your words that don’t need a citatation.

While at work some years ago, I encountered a 79-year-old Hispanic patient. After the patient's admission, his daughter left, and I was assigned to attend to her. He could not communicate in English well, which created a language barrier. I sought the help of an interpreter in the hospital, who happened to come from the patient's community, to translate what the patient was communicating. Again, the patient appeared to be more concerned about handling him and even preferred interpretation services from an older colleague than from a young person. The patient paid close attention to non-verbal cues, and I had to avoid body language as much as possible because it could communicate different and unrelated things, therefore affecting the patient experience.

Conclusively, health inequalities are prevalent in the US and can be addressed through a proper mix of government policies. Culture affects our perception towards other, health behaviors and the expectation during care delivery. Cultural competency is a key component of patient care as it increases nurses' awareness and equips them to develop an effective and suitable care plan for better outcomes and patient experience. Nurses can advocate for patients, communities, and families to ensure equity in health outcomes. I have a varying preference for different populations, which affects my response level to their care needs as a nurse. I am a culturally competent person because when handling patients and community members, I often examine myself, try to avoid prejudgments, and develop the right attitudes towards a particular foreign culture by boosting my cultural awareness.

References

Andrews, M. M., & Boyle, J. S. (2002). Transcultural concepts in nursing care. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 13(3), 178-180.

Doucette, E., Antonacci, R., Sanzone, L., Cole, L., Hong, S., Lowenkamp, A., & QiXu, C. (2018). Advocating for patients at high risk for post intensive care syndrome (PICS). Canadian Journal of Critical Care Nursing, 29(2).

Malbon, E., Carey, G., & Meltzer, A. (2019). Personalisation schemes in social care: are they growing social and health inequalities?. BMC Public Health, 19(1), 1-12.

Marmot, M. (2017). Social justice, epidemiology and health inequalities. European journal of epidemiology, 32(7), 537-546.

Park, M., & Yoo, H. (2019). Influence of cultural competence on nursing professionalism of nursing students. The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education, 25(1), 38-47.

Introduction

This paper is an analysis of my own cultural background and the potential impact that it has in provision of care to patients. In this context, my cultural background is evaluated through the results of implicit association test results. The results are from six tests and sought to evaluate my level of cultural competence. The paper begins with the definition of health inequalities and after that offers ways in which nurses can advocate for patients to reduce the inequalities. The papers aim at showcasing how one’s cultural competence can influence healthcare access to different patients contributing to healthcare inequalities in different occasions.

Body

Definition and Description of Health Inequalities

Health inequalities are defined as unavoidable and unfair differences in health across the population and between different groups and societies. They arise from differences in income, employment status, ethnicity, gender, and income level among other factors (World Health Organization, 2018). This may not be visualized directly but these condition influence our opportunities for good health, how we think, act, and feel. This shapes our physical and mental health. As highlighted some of the key components of health inequities involve; different vulnerabilities in terms of health conditions, and differences in the availability of material resources (World Health Organization, 2018). Additionally, disproportionate social, economic and sanitary services also contribute to healthcare inequalities.

Health inequalities are mainly classified in terms of race and ethnicity. For example, many people in the minority groups such as African Americans and Latin Americans in the United States lack access to quality healthcare and are more prone to various health conditions such as cancer, stroke, and diabetes. Health care disparities also occur in disability, geographic location, income, and education level (Thornton & Persaud, 2018). There is a lot that nurses can do to advocate for a reduction in healthcare disparities. ‘

Advocacy for Patients, Families and Communities

Embracing diversity in nursing can promote language and cultural awareness. Nurses who can contextualize the language used for each patient's background are critical in filling the gap for better health literacy (World Health Organization, 2018). Additionally, this improves access to care for come groups.

As a nurse, I would also participate in policymaking processes to lobby for legislation that addresses the concerns of those affected (Sommer et al., 2019). This polices would also include those focused on prevention efforts and improvement of healthcare financing to accommodate families and communities that lack access to care. One of the strategies would be to pursue leadership positions where I can influence change. I would also engage more with policymakers to learn more about the process of policy development and how I could contribute actively (Thornton & Persaud, 2018). I would also encourage my colleagues to participate in political discussions and facilitate the management to organize leadership training for the nurses.

Personal Results of Testing

Implicit Association test on Islam

In this test, the overall result was that I had a moderate automatic preference for Arab Muslims compared to other people. The results indicate that I am culturally sensitive despite my religion, and the interpretation does not apply to people of the Islamic faith alone. I greatly respect one's religious standing, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, among others.

Implicit Association test on Sexuality

In this test, the response suggested a moderate automatic preference for straight people over gay people. The results were quite surprising since I generally respect gay people. However, they pointed out that I am likely to express unconscious bias toward gay people. The bias could negatively affect their access to healthcare services, and it is an area that I will work on.

Implicit Association test on Transgender

The result of the test was that I have no automatic preference between transgender people and cisgender people. The results were a good indicator, and I aspire to continue treating them in the right way. I will also work on understanding this demographic group to serve them better in my nursing practice.

Implicit Association test on Christianity and Islam

The test results suggested that I had a slight automatic preference for Christianity over Islam. I can attribute this to my background, and I am well versed with Christianity concepts more than Islam. However, it is also an indicator that I need to learn more about the Islamic culture to be sensitive to the norms, behaviors, and beliefs. Adhering to the norms will boost my interactions with patients of Islamic faith-promoting better patient outcomes.

Implicit Association test among Asians

The test results suggested a moderate automatic association for Americans with European Americans compared with Foreign Asian Americans. The results also reflected that it was likely that I would have some unconscious bias for Asian Americans, such as stereotyping them to be foreigners and not birth citizens of the country. I will put in efforts to reduce cultural bias.

Implicit Association test on Racism

The test showed that I had a slight automatic preference for White people compared to Black people. I felt pretty disappointed by the results, and I had thought that the results would indicate that I had no automatic preference for any of the groups. Unconscious bias on Racism is something that I vowed to address after enrolling in tertiary education. I have many African American friends, and I have accompanied them to the hospital and experienced how unconscious bias and systemic Racism heavily affect them. Even when one stereotypes them indirectly, it weighs heavily on them.

Cultural Competence Versus Humility

Culturally competence implies the ability to appreciate, understand, and interact with people from other belief systems different from your own (Andrews & Boyle et al., 2016). Before the tests, I thought I was culturally competent, and however, I have learned that I am not there yet. I will take up efforts that will help me deliver health care services that meet the patient's cultural, social, and linguistic needs (Gates, 2018).

The test has been a form of self-awareness that has helped me recognize bias against people of different cultures (Andrews & Boyle et al., 2016). I am also working hard to eliminate them. I will also commit to a knowledge acquisition process to learn about different cultures. In the process, I will interact with diverse groups and periodically volunteer medical services in areas where the culture is not well defined to me (Sommer et al., 2019). Lastly, I will complement the course learnings by reading more on diversity-related research and practical issues.

In conclusion, a nurse’s level of cultural competence has an influence on the quality of care delivered to the patient. At times, low cultural competence can contribute to healthcare inequalities. This could happen unconsciously. From the test results, it is likely that I could have engaged in unconscious bias when engaging interacting with patients of African American, Asian American origin, and the LGBTQ community. It is therefore important for nurses to be sel-aware on their level of cultural competence and intentionally take steps to improve.