Week 9: Equity and Diversity in the Workplace

This week we studied equity and diversity in the workplace through recognising and valuing the differences in not only race, gender, and ethnicity but also age and faith. The role of leadership in valuing and promoting a culturally diverse and harmonious workplace was also briefly discussed.

The readings this week made me reflect on the difficulties overseas nurses face when coming to work in Australia. I thought of the midwife who delivered my sister’s second child. She was an African woman, who had studied and trained in England and had come to Australia 5 years ago. Her nature was a lot different to my sister’s previous midwife, with her direct, and what came across to be aggressive, communication style being difficult for my sister to work with during labour. After this week’s readings I realised the various challenges and difficulties she would have faced and would still be facing in coming to work in Australia such as trust and fear, belonging, differences in communication including Australian slang, body language, mannerisms and conflict resolution along with adapting nursing knowledge and practice to Australian culture (Walters, 2008).

Scene from the Movie "Meet the Parents" where Greg faces criticism for being a nurse and explains why he is a nurse. (Movie trailer, 2010)

This week I also learnt of the difficulties men in nursing face in relation to sexism, misconceptions and stereotypes not only from patients but from colleagues. Clow, Ricciardelli, and Bartfay (2014) highlight that more men are needed in nursing however promoting gender diversity in nursing is lagging behind that of racial and ethnic diversification. They also face barriers which limit their choice of specialty which in turn impacts on being eligible to certain senior positions Kouta and Kaite (2011) suggest.

By creating a harmonious workplace, I believe I will be a better nurse, as I will be able to acknowledge the importance of diversity in the workplace and embrace each individual for their skills, experience and cultural backgrounds while not allowing their age, race, gender and/or faith to negatively impact on their work environment.

References

Clow, K. A., Ricciardelli, R., & Bartfay, W. J. (2014). Attitudes and Stereotypes of Male and Female Nurses: The Influence of Social Roles and Ambivalent Sexism. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 46(3), 446-455. doi:10.1037/a0034248.

Kouta, C., & Kaite, C. P. (2011). Original Article: Gender Discrimination and Nursing: Α Literature Review. Journal of Professional Nursing, 2759-63. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2010.10.006.

Meet the Parents. (2010). [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmhGzTEGa70.

Walters, H. (2008). The experiences, challenges and rewards of nurses from South Asia in the process of entering the Australian nursing system. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 25(3), 95 – 105. Retrieved from http://www.ajan.com.au.