Working With a Culturally Diverse Staff: Benefits and Challenges - Essay Sample

Describe how working with a culturally diverse staff of nursing and allied health professionals can have both positive and negative effects on health care outcomes. Give an example of each and justify comments with a reference from the literature.

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Working with a culturally diverse staff has both positive and negative outcomes on the healthcare provider. The benefit of different cultures is that it inspires creativity and helps to drive innovation. The employees reach an understanding of the operations and the general environment (Mateescu, 2017). Having a better understanding of the various cultures in the group results in better interpersonal communication that supports creativity.

Another benefit of diverse cultures is that there are various skills attained from each individual that allow the healthcare facility to offer broader services and those that are more adaptable. The bounds of the organization tend to expand rationally through the increase of new ideas, perspectives, and interpretations (Mateescu, 2017). The workforce performs its duties and responsibilities accordingly hence reach the goal of providing the best services for the organization. A diverse culture also allows for more significant opportunities in terms of personal as well as professional growth. It is evident that various teams tend to be more productive, and they also perform better. An example of diverse cultural benefits to health outcomes is where the organization offers a platform for different personalities and multiple voices. Some of the large healthcare centers, such as the Florida Hospital Orlando attribute their impressive success to the multicultural product development teams. The facility has been able to gain a competitive advantage and, ultimately, profitability. Diversity has thus proven to be good and enhanced the success rates of the companies as well as helped them thrive.

The negative impacts of diverse culture on the healthcare outcomes include the difficulty in integration across the multicultural teams because they may face prejudice and other cultural stereotypes. It thus becomes harder to transform the teams and ensure productivity (Mateescu, 2017). The workforce may have a different understanding of professional etiquette leading to conflicting styles of work. Similarly, the workforce may misinterpret professional communication across languages and cultures.

An example of the negative impacts is where there are different approaches to teamwork and collaboration. There are cultures such as in Asia where they value collective census when performing tasks. However, it is not the case for a country like Germany, where they focus more on individual independence. When there are employees from each of the cultures coming together, they may have to take some time to adjust and blend in the new culture (Mateescu, 2017). The fact that there are varying opinions on the issue of order, rigor, flexibility, and spontaneity is because the employees work while reflecting on the underlying cultural values.

Considering the workgroup with whom you are now most closely affiliated, which of the following most accurately describes the organizational culture? Positive (constructive, focused on self-actualization, humanism, affiliation, and achievement)

A positive workgroup has helped in ensuring a motivated individual and accomplishing more things compared to a group that struggles with negativity and low morale. Our workgroup has had several qualities, such as being constructive, focusing on self-actualization, success achievement, and humanism, among others. The positivity of the teams has helped to increase the ability of every individual in the group to think creatively (Kim & Choi, 2018). The majority of the team members have witnessed progress individually and in their careers while being able to easily cope with challenges as well as work with other people.

We have ensured a reduction in absenteeism and turnover rates of the members hence a more satisfied and productive team. In providing that the workgroup is constructive, we adopted related behaviors that allow cooperation where we are all interested in the views as well as perspectives of each group member and being willing to adapt for the greater good of the group (Kim & Choi, 2018). Clarifying issues helps to enliven the group, encourage participation, and also progress.

The focus on self-actualization is where we realized how to fulfill the talents and potentialities. Alongside the career of being a productive member of the health facility, we have worked towards growing our selves by prioritizing the need for personal growth and development (Kim & Choi, 2018). Once one is self-actualized, they have met their full potential as an individual. We also work to promote humanism in healthcare by being respectful and compassionate with the patients as well as other members of staff. We ensure to reflect sensitive attitude and behavior to the values as well as the ethnic background of others.

The workgroup also ensures to focus on affiliation by practicing academic discipline. There is a close tie between the healthcare facility and the medical school hence using all the experience gained. The significant achievements that we ought to fulfill every day are the satisfaction of the customer, recognition in the industry, and robust partnerships (Kim & Choi, 2018). The group is committed to ensuring the best outcomes for the facility.

Name someone you perceive to be an influential public figure. What key factors contribute to the person's powerful image? How can nurses in a position of leadership convey a powerful image?

I consider the president to be an influential public figure who has to maintain its image. Considering the duties that include full leadership of the state, being a chief executive, administrator, and commander in chief makes them prone to public criticism and comments. This way, they need to ensure that they are well-prepared to delegate their duties. Unlike other public figures, a president is known to everybody because they are involved in many areas of the government. Similarly, they need to ensure perfection and that things are moving positively because that is what the public expects.

The factors that contribute to the president's powerful image include leadership qualities, such as being informed, making rational decisions, and the amount of power they have over the public. A president needs to have information concerning the different roles and international affairs. Making decisions concerning the country should reflect their devotion to serving and a strong vision for the future. The powers vested on them to lead reveal the opportunity to take leading roles in the affairs of their country.

Nurses can convey a powerful image by showcasing their skills, such as resolution, communication, making decisions, and promoting productivity (Thulung, Shakya, & Shrestha, 2017). They should perform their duties from an educational perspective that allows for the unified character in the nursing profession. They should display their ability to resolve conflicts correctly, improving communication, and enhancing a positive work environment. They should keep the perception from the public in a positive way by working to promote the welfare of patients.

Go to the NCNA website and identify one political issue for which nurses are advocating. Summarize the issue and indicate why you feel it's essential for nurses.

The nurse practitioners are pushing back against the state rule that requires a physician to supervise them. As a nurse practitioner in the state of North Carolina, one needs to have a supervising physician whose practices encompass the duties of the practitioner (Havlak, 2019). In the event of the loss of the physician, it is a requirement to get a new one or will be required to shutter the business as well as lose everything. It is despite the fact that the practitioners pay quite a lot to stay in business every year for only two meetings and gaining a few signatures.

The issue is that the supervising physicians tend to walk away at times and requires the nurse practitioner to keep looking for one that will stick with the practices (Havlak, 2019). The practitioners are required to meet with the supervising physician two times a year and have to pay for the services. These practitioners can practice without the need for supervision from the physician.

The acts are frustrating because the practitioners have to move to a different location to have a meeting that seems unproductive for them because they have to make up things that they will talk about (Havlak, 2019). There are no great things being accomplished in the meeting and the entire process of supervision. It would be necessary for nurses to work without supervision to save them time and make it easier to showcase their experience without being exploited.

References

Havlak, J. (2019). Nurse practitioners push back against state rules requiring a physician to supervise them. The Carolina Journal. NCNA News. Retrieved from https://ncnurses.org/about-ncna/latest-news/nurse-practitioners-push-back-against-state-rule-requiring-a-physician-to-supervise-them/

Kim, M. J., & Choi, J. N. (2018). Group identity and positive deviance in workgroups. The Journal of social psychology, 158(6), 730-743. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Moon_Joung_Kim2/publication/321584824_Group_identity_and_positive_deviance_in_work_groups/links/5be3630492851c6b27aee33e/Group-identity-and-positive-deviance-in-work-groups.pdf

Mateescu, M. V. (2017). Cultural Diversity in the Workplace-Discourse and Perspectives. Modelling New Europe. An On-line Journal, (24), 23-35. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ccee/f19cd046d1b92ab8d32cc8c681d272c948de.pdf

Thulung, B., Shakya, J. L., & Shrestha, T. (2017). Perception towards nurses' uniform among registered nurses. Journal of Chitwan Medical College, 7(4), 35-43. Retrieved from https://www.nepjol.info/index.php/JCMC/article/view/23701