CNA157: Nursing - Responding to Diversity - Health Care Practice - Assessment Answer

Nursing Assignment

Assignment Task

Responding to Diversity In this task you will write a reflection about your anticipated nursing or health care practice. Choose a group that interests you from the diversity of ethnicities, religions, genders, sexualities and abilities in the Australian population. Your reflection is a response to the question: How can I provide culturally safe health care to patients who belong to my chosen diverse group? There are four required components to your reflection:

1. Identify some of the barriers to health care access and good care experienced by your chosen group.
2. Reflect on your attitudes, values and beliefs about your chosen group, and assess the impact (both positive and negative) of your attitudes on your anticipated health care practice with your chosen group.
3. Describe some culturally safe health care practices you might undertake with individual patients who belong to your chosen group.
4. Outline how you could be a nurse or health service provider advocate for your chosen group and contribute towards improved health outcomes for your chosen group at a population level.

Reflective writing should demonstrate critical reading and thinking skills. The use of ‘I’ is expected in this assessment task (‘I think, I do not agree, I agree’, etc). You are expected to undertake research beyond the unit materials, and use a range of books and journal articles. A recommended list that provides a useful starting point can be found at the end of this unit outline. You are required to support your practice reflection with a minimum of6 scholarly references.

Introduction A population of a country is made up of various forms of diversities. The term LGBTIQ stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex, and Questioning. These represent the various diversities that are present within the Australian population. Despite the various diversities, health care is a major concern, and these people require medical attention as they carry out their daily activities. As a health nurse, I would provide health care to these groups of people with their needs (Marshall 2011, pp. 187). Policy developers and key decision makers need to factor this group in developed health programs. However, some barriers may hinder the efficient provision of health care services to the patients. These barriers should be addressed and managed to ensure that they are minimized or eliminated. This group consists of people who are sexually active. For this reason, they are at risk of contracting various diseases, hence the need for medical attention, supporting budged and sufficient information. Barriers Dealing with this group of people may pose some challenges in providing them with the health care they deserve. Some of these challenges include the unwillingness to interact with healthcare officials because of the kind of diversity they belong to (Maher, Lindsay & Bardoel 2010, pp. 141). Some people may feel as if they are embarrassed by their status. For example, other people because of their way of life often stigmatize the gay community. This tends to cause them to seclude themselves from social activities. They fear that people will hate them if they knew their way of life. Stigmatization is something that a majority of these people has faced. For this reason, these people are not willing to appear in public or meet with a health nurse. People in this form of diversity have the tendency to avoid any form of confrontation due to the fear of being stigmatized (Maher, Lindsay & Bardoel 2010, pp. 141). In addition, this group of people is highly prone to various diseases that are faced with their line of work and social life. Locating them becomes a difficult task. This hinders all actions of the nurse to reach out to them and address their health concerns (Hsu 2011, pp. 90). A majority of them are not aware of the places where they can gain access to the nurses for assistance. Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs This group of people has their values and beliefs which not to match with the same attitudes and beliefs that are held by myself. For example, this group of people believes that relationships with people of the same gender are normal. This kind of situation may not go well with a majority of other communities. If a nurse does not support the same values, they may prefer not to attend to them (Lee et al 2013, pp. 120). This can be categorized as a form of discrimination on the part of the nurses. In accordance with my healthcare practice, I do not conform to the same values. Therefore, I will generate a bad attitude towards them while offering my services. This will cause me to have impaired judgment and in some cases, conduct my duties in a manner that is not conducive to them. There is also a risk of profiling the patients depending on the category, which they belong. This will have a negative impact on the nursing profession (Madsen 2012, pp. 96). However, the values and beliefs of the group do not have an impact on the nursing care plan that I implement to them. Medical treatment is a function that is standardized and does not require special values or beliefs to be adhered to. Healthcare practices Engaging in culturally safe health care in Australia is crucial. One of the healthcare practices that I may engage in is the use of adequate language, which will be understood by the patient. Speaking their native language will go a long way in ensuring that they fully understand the instructions being given to them. For example, some phrases may not be familiar to be, but to the Australian community, they are a form of insult to them. For this reason, it is crucial for me to understand the meaning of all the words in their native language. This will help me to avoid using words that are offensive to them (Bush 2010, pp. 109). Another culturally correct healthcare practice is to offer nursing services in a way that the population can understand what you want to do to them. Every community has gestures in the language that mean different things from what it would mean to a different person. Taking time to learn all these gestures is crucial to the nurse practitioner. This will eliminate the risk of portraying information to the patients that they do not understand (Madsen 2012, pp. 96). For example, the gay community may not be interested to be touched in certain areas by male doctors. A nurse should have this information so that there is no confusion in the end. Advocacy As a nurse practitioner, I would be interested in fighting for the well fair of all my patients. I would be a nurse advocate for the lesbian and gay community in Australia. This would be achieved by forming a union that will specifically be geared towards advocating for the rights of people belonging to this group of diversified people (Hsu 2011, pp. 90).. This would help in creating a good reputation for the group of people in the public. Also, I would embark on a mission to create awareness to the diversified group of people that I am addressing with my nursing services (Madsen 2012, pp. 96). This will ensure that the patients are well aware of their rights and how they can live freely without any form of stigmatization. Another form of advocating is by encouraging the people become strong and encourage them to ignore the thoughts of other people (Hsu 2011, pp. 90). This will eliminate the tendency to become depressed because of the actions they are facing from other people around them. This will increase the level of confidence they have and ensure that interact freely with other people in the society. Addressing these issues will require some dedication and a high level of advocacy for the group of people. Conclusion A nurse should act as a neutral element within the society. Also, treating the lives of people portrays a good role in ensuring that they are focussed and concerned about fulfilling their duties in the community. People always look upon nurses for their basic medical attention. The LGBTIQ communities often go through stigmatization because of their way of life. Most people do not find it to be normal in any way. The nurses can then initiate a campaign where they will be in a position to ensure that members of this group gain enough confidence to interact freely and comfortably with other people within the society. Also, the values and beliefs between this group and the nurse may differ from one point to another. In some cases, this may cause the nurse to deliver inefficient services to the patients.