Diversity
Blog
Meaning
of Diversity Within an Education Context
“Diversity can be defined as
the sum of the ways that people are both alike and different. The dimensions of
diversity include race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, language,
culture, religion, mental and physical ability, class, and immigration status.”
(National Education Association, 2015). The
concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding
that each individual is unique, and recognizing our individual differences.
Primary
and Secondary Diversities
The primary
diversity is the genetic characteristics that affect a person's self-image and socialization
such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical abilities and qualities, and
sexual orientation. While secondary diversity is the learned characteristics
that a person acquires and modifies throughout life such as education, work
experience, income, marital status, religious beliefs, geographic location,
parental status, behavioral and communication style, etc.
Diversity
Identifiers
Culture
and Social makeup are diversity identifiers. People need to be familiar with
other cultures and learn to coexist and collaborate with people from completely
different backgrounds. The
cultural identifiers involve racial and ethnic differences. “Knowledge about
cultures and their impact on interactions with health care is essential for
nurses and other health care providers whether they are practicing in clinical,
educational, research, or administrative settings.” (Glazner, 2008. pg. 440).
Healthcare workers need to explore ways of improving communication and cultural
values when providing care to the patient. The social identifiers include the
age, religion, physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, etc.
How Various
Nursing Accrediting Bodies Represent Diversity
The importance of
promoting diversity in the nursing workforce is acknowledged by various nursing
agencies and health organizations, including the American Association of
Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2013).
The American Organization of Nurse Executives (2011) has four “principle that are
intended to guide the nurse leader in achieving a diverse workforce
by becoming an advocate for resources to implement and support a diversity
program, encouraging a commitment to education, and leading diversity research
initiatives that are based on performance improvement outcomes.”
The Difference Between Diversity
and Culture
The difference between
culture and diversity is that culture represents the existence of a community
by means of several phenomena, but diversity refers to differences in an
individual. Diversity relates to how people who belong to one culture may
differ from each other as a result of various features. Diversities exist in
the cultures, and they are characterized by the cultures. Culture and
diversities exist together in the society and may go hand in hand since both
exist together in the society.
Multicultural Education and How It Relates To Diversity
Multicultural
education is designed to integrate the needs of diverse individuals. It
incorporates the race, ethnicity, culture, language, religion, gender, and
abilities/disabilities within educational processes and content. The idea of
multicultural education is to expand the curriculum to include a variety of
perspectives to meet the needs of all the students irrespective of their
social-cultural background. Educators can foster a multicultural learning
environment by developing strategies that will help students learn to recognize
their values, feelings, privileges, biases, and promote self-aware.
Multicultural education may include the use of texts, materials, references,
and historical examples that are understandable to students from different
cultural backgrounds or that reflect their particular cultural experience.
Importance
of Diversity Among Nurses and Nurse Educators
The
increase in multicultural interaction in healthcare has made it necessary to
meet the care needs of diverse patients. “There is the call for
patient-centered care which must incorporate their cultural needs and respect
for patient wishes.” (Ong-Flaherty, 2015 pg. 58). Ignoring diversity and
providing culturally incongruent nursing care can adversely affect patient
outcomes and jeopardize patient safety. It is the responsibility of the nurse
education to foster training that is geared towards culturally congruent
practice. Diversity among nurses and nurse educators provides opportunities to
deliver quality care which will promote patient satisfaction and emotional
well-being. When a nurse is assigned to a patient that speak the same language,
we noticed positive progress in the patient’s emotional and physical state as a
result of the interaction with the nurse, but patient always complained because
their needs are not met adequately by a nurse who could not understand their
language.
Importance
of understanding Learners Diversity and Styles in Nursing Curriculum
Individual
preferences and styles of learning play a significant role in learning
outcomes. The ability to understand learner’s diversity and styles is an
essential feature for the educators. It will enable the instructor to plan
efficiently and be able to facilitate active learning. The nurse educators can
use knowledge about learning styles to develop programs that are modeled to
meet the learner’s needs and provide students with experiences that can
encourage the development of a broad range of knowledge. It will help learners
to be involved in learning and enhance critical thinking abilities in learners.
References
American
Association of Colleges of Nursing (2013). Fact sheet: Enhancing diversity
in the nursing workforce. https://www.aacn.nche.edu/media-relations/diversityFS.pdf
American
Organization of Nurse Executives (2011). Guiding principles for diversity in
healthcare organizations. http://www.aone.org/resources/diversity.pdf
Glazner,
L. K. (2008). Cultural Diversity. American Association of Occupational Health
Nurses, 56(10), 440. http://whs.sagepub.com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/content/56/10/440
National
Education Association (2015). Diversity Toolkit
Introduction. http://www.nea.org/tools/diversity-toolkit-introduction.html
Ong-Flaherty,
C (2015). Critical Cultural Awareness and Diversity in Nursing: A Minority
Perspective. Nurse leader, 13(5), 58-62. Retrieved from the University of
Phoenix. DOI: 10.1016/j.mnl.2015.03.012
Picture (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.bc.edu/offices/diversity/statement-on-diversity-and-inclusion3/_jcr_content/content/bcimage_0.img.jpg/1417021939134.jpg
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