Week 2 DB Forum 2
Managing the Healthcare Workplace
Diversity in Workplace
The U.S. healthcare system encounters many people all over the world and the goal for
delivering quality healthcare is ensuring proper and equal care for all patients. Diversity of
healthcare workforce is a current trend as previously discussed in week one and it is important to
implement in all workplace environments not just in healthcare. The benefits of diversity in a
healthcare workplace benefits the employees, patients, and other healthcare leadership. Due to
the complexity of healthcare workplace diversity allows for healthcare professionals to better
collaborate, higher recruitment rate, improved healthcare outcomes, and implementing quality
healthcare to diverse patient populations (White et al., 2020). If healthcare organizations lacked
diversity there would be more room for biased results, limited perspectives, lack of role models,
and communication and cultural barriers. Romans 2:11 states, “For God shows no partiality”
(English Standard Version). Diversity in a complex workplace such as the healthcare industry
requires variety, options, and different perspectives to assure the levels of quality healthcare are
being implemented to carry out the best healthcare outcomes.
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
Human resources policies and procedures are the framework that staff and future
employees must be compliant with in regards to legislation and the company’s expectations
within the workplace. The law that will be discussed throughout this discussion forum is the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC law, established by the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, ensures that all individuals such as staff and future employees follow
antidiscrimination in a workplace environment (McConnell, 2020). Although these laws are in
place and staff and future employees must be compliant too the EEOC and other laws,
discrimination against others based on race, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion or beliefs, age,
marriage and civil partnership are still a common trend in the workplace. According to research,
“Black, Hispanic, and Native American physicians remain underrepresented in medicine despite
national efforts to increase diversity in the health care workforce” (Osseo-Asare et al., 2018, p.
2). The complexity of working in the healthcare industry requires an abundance of teamwork
among colleagues and other healthcare expertise regardless of race and ethnicity. For example,
during the first year of an individual’s residency or training on the first day of the job can be
greatly impacted when someone is mistreated or looked down upon due to their race and
ethnicity. The protection of employees is a top priority and reasons why policies and procedures
are enforced in healthcare workforce. In order to understand the importance of diversity in
healthcare workforce, staff, future employers, and other healthcare leadership must be compliant
with the EEOC law.
In my example, residency and first day on the job, everyone should be given an equal
opportunity to work in a field that they feel most passionate. The experience for someone knew
on the job is important especially when it comes to getting the proper training to effectively do
your job. If the EEOC was not enforced this could affect the individuals training and educational
experience if unlawful discrimination has taken place. Previously mentioned the EEOC law
enforces antidiscrimination within the workplace. To ensure the EEOC’s organizational process
during an investigation an employer has the right to file suit. The process starts with the client’s
decision (charge), followed by the the agency decision (investigation), and lastly judicial
decision (resolution), (Kennedy & Bishu, 2020). During this process of someone who has
decided to file a discrimination charge, it allows for that individual to provide information that is
strictly prohibited in the working environment. Although an individual can file a discrimination
charge it is possible that investigators may not find enough evidence when determining possible
discrimination involved in workplace.
References
Kennedy, A. H., & Bishu, S. G. (2020). This for That: What EEOC Trends Reveal About
Representative Bureaucracy. Review of Public Personnel Administration.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0734371X20942811
McConnell, C.R. (2021). Human resources management in healthcare management: Jones &
Bartlett.
Osseo-Asare, A., Balasuriya, L., Huot, S, J., Keene, D., Berg, D., Nunez, M., Genao, I.,
Latimore, D., & Boatwright, D. (2018). Minority resident physicians’ views on the role
of race/ethnicity in their training experiences in the workplace. JAMA Network Open,
(5)1. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.2723
White, M, J., Wyse, R, J., Ware, A, D., & Deville, C. (2020). Current and historical trends in
diversity by race, ethnicity, and sex within the US pathology physician workforce,
American Journal of Clinical Pathology, (154) 4, 450–458 https://doi-
org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1093/ajcp/aqaa139
