post response

Please read and respond to at least two of your peers' initial postings. Peer Responses do not have no minimum words count but You may want to consider the following questions in your responses to your peers:

· Compare and contrast your initial posting with those of your peers.  

· How are they similar or how are they different?

· What information can you add that would help support the responses of your peers?

· Ask your peers a question for clarification about their post.

· What most interests you about their responses? 

Please be sure to validate your opinions and ideas with citations and references in APA format.

Peer Post 1

One of the topics under Principle #3 in  Supporting Health Equity: AONL Guiding Principles on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging that stood out to me is increasing the number of diverse nursing faculty and creating stronger relationships between nursing education and practice. AONL (2022) discusses creating opportunities for nurses from diverse backgrounds to serve as mentors, guest lecturers, preceptors, and clinical faculty. I think this is important because we all come from different walks of life and have different experiences. As healthcare professionals, it can be easy to become narrow-minded and view a patient only through what we have learned or experienced ourselves. Working with people from different backgrounds can help us see things differently and look at the patient as a whole.

This is especially important when caring for patients from cultures, religions, or backgrounds that we may not be familiar with. A patient's beliefs and life experiences can influence how they view healthcare and the decisions they make. For example, a patient may be a Jehovah's Witness or Muslim, or they may come from a community where access to healthcare, medications, education, or even food is limited. We may not fully understand these experiences if we have never experienced them ourselves. Having a diverse healthcare team gives us the opportunity to learn from one another and better understand circumstances outside of our own experiences.

The Tuskegee Syphilis Study is a painful example of how the actions of healthcare professionals can create lasting mistrust. Jones and Reverby (2022) explain that the study continues to represent the serious consequences of racism and ethical failures in healthcare and research. This is one reason I believe diversity, equity, and inclusion are so important in healthcare. We can learn from people who have experienced these situations themselves or from those who have grown up around family members and communities who have experienced similar circumstances. Their experiences can help us see healthcare more clearly through the eyes of someone whose life may be very different from our own. It also reminds us that we cannot assume that every patient enters the healthcare system with the same level of trust.

One way to support Principle #3 would be for healthcare organizations and nursing schools to work together to provide more opportunities for diverse nurses to become mentors, guest lecturers, preceptors, and clinical faculty. Providing tuition assistance and professional development could also encourage more nurses from underrepresented groups to pursue advanced education and become future nursing faculty and leaders (Clark et al., 2023). These partnerships would allow students to learn from nurses with different experiences while also connecting classroom learning to real-world practice.

Something I found particularly important during my NU611 course was learning the importance of asking patients about their beliefs, values, and experiences rather than making assumptions. I think a diverse healthcare team can help reinforce this approach. If one member of the team has experience or knowledge that another person does not, they can help the team think outside the box and ask better questions. This can help us understand what is important to the patient and develop a plan of care that works for that individual.

Ultimately, I think diversity, equity, and inclusion are about making sure we encompass the whole patient and not just a part of the patient, the whole healthcare system and not just part of it. We cannot always understand what someone has experienced, but we can listen, ask questions, and learn from others. Having healthcare professionals with different backgrounds and experiences can help us broaden our perspective and recognize things we may otherwise overlook. Within my organization, creating these opportunities could support more patient-centered and equitable care by improving communication, building trust, and helping nurses better understand the diverse populations they serve. For me, that is what makes diversity in nursing education and practice so important.

References

American Organization for Nursing Leadership. (2022). Supporting health equity: AONL guiding principles on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.  Nurse Leader, 20(2), 123–125.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2022.02.001Links to an external site.

Clark, S. G., Cohen, A., & Heard-Garris, N. (2023). Moving beyond words: Leveraging financial resources to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic medical centers.  Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings, 30(2), 281–287.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-022-09914-4Links to an external site.

Jones, J. H., & Reverby, S. M. (2022). 50 years after the Tuskegee revelations: Why does the mistrust linger?  American Journal of Public Health, 112(11), 1538–1540.  https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307088Links to an external site.

Peer Post 2

For this discussion, I selected the American Organization for Nursing Leadership’s (AONL, 2022) recommendation to develop career plans for current employees who may be potential candidates for nursing careers, with particular attention to individuals from underrepresented groups.  AONL (2022) identifies partnerships between healthcare organizations and nursing schools as a key tool for implementing policies and programs that foster cultural intelligence while boosting the recruitment and retention of a nursing workforce that reflects the populations being served. This strategy could be especially useful in healthcare organizations, where people already working as nursing assistants, patient care technicians, and other support staff may be interested in nursing but want additional resources and assistance to grow professionally.

My organization might develop a formal career advancement track for employees who want to become nurses. The program could involve connections with local nursing schools, tuition aid, flexible scheduling, academic guidance, and mentorship. These solutions would address AONL's (2022) proposal that organizations acknowledge the economic, emotional, social, and cultural hurdles that people from underrepresented groups may face throughout their academic and professional careers. Providing tools like tuition assistance and flexible work schedules may make nursing school more accessible to employees who are juggling work, education, and family obligations.

Mentorship might also be included in the program by matching employees obtaining nursing degrees with experienced nurses who can offer professional advice and assistance. AONL (2022) specifically promotes collaborative partnerships between nursing education and practice settings, allowing nurses from various backgrounds to participate as mentors, guest speakers, and clinical faculty. These collaborations may give students with role models while also increasing the link between academic preparation and professional nursing practice.

This plan is also in line with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing's (AACN, 2017) policy on diversity, equity, and inclusion in nursing education. When evaluating future nursing students, the AACN (2017) suggests looking beyond traditional criteria such as standardized test results and GPA. Leadership ability, communication skills, past life experiences, the ability to overcome difficulties, and the ability to connect with underprivileged groups may also reflect an individual’s potential contribution to nursing (AACN, 2017). Recognizing these characteristics could assist employers in identifying current employees who have shown the capacity to excel in nursing, even if their path to higher school has not been typical.

Finally, the organization should assess the program's efficacy by tracking employee enrollment, nursing program completion, licensure, retention, and internal promotion. AONL (2022) highlights that recruitment and retention initiatives should involve both qualitative and quantitative outcome assessments and that policies should be adjusted when disparities are detected. Developing an employee-to-nurse career pathway would therefore be more than a recruitment strategy; it would provide an opportunity for healthcare organizations and nursing schools to work together to reduce barriers to nursing education, retain experienced employees, and develop a workforce that better reflects the population it serves. This goal aligns with AACN’s (2017) perspective that diversity, equity, and inclusion are vital to producing nurses who can offer high-quality and culturally appropriate care.

References

American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2017).  Diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic nursing: AACN position statement.

American Organization for Nursing Leadership. (2022). Supporting health equity: AONL guiding principles on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.  Nurse Leader, 20(2), 123–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mnl.2022.02.001