Week 9: Equity and Diversity in the Workplace

Equity and Diversity in the Workplace

Working within the Australian workforce reflects the diversity and multiculturalism that defines our country. We are often working alongside people from a different culture but from my understanding diversity in the workplace can mean much more than culture. Diversity can include having employees from different ages, gender, ethnicity, physical ability, sexual orientation, religious belief, work experience, educational background any much more. Often within diversity, we happen to notice discrimination and inequality. Equity in healthcare relates to the opportunity of equal and fair access for all human-beings, regardless of the social, economical, demo-graphical or geographical influences (World Health Organisation, 2016). Often we find that our colleagues are being treated unfairly due to diversity. 

The  nursing profession is dominated by females, with women comprising of  90.1% of employed nurses and midwives (CQUniversity, 2015). With a large portion being female, male nurses are often stereotyped to be homosexual. I believe the effects of sexism and misconceptions on male nurses is unfair and can potentially ruin careers. Male nurses are discriminated and wrongly accused of being homosexual and sexual harassment reports. These accusations are a prime example of how diversity in the workplace can display inequality. 

I believe this weeks topic has made me aware of the different attributes that equity and diversity can bring to the workplace. I have learnt that there may be difficulties when working with different ethnic backgrounds, due to language barriers and different approaches and methods to treating patients. I have also identified the importance of diversity, such as valuing the range of skill sets that can be brought together as one, the level of experience others may bring and educating others in the workplace with different knowledge. 

I believe that working within a diverse environment can benefit my practice as a registered nurse as I believe I would be more open to different situations that diversity may influence. I believe I would work well with the different attributes of groups and the variety that is offered. As a registered nurse I believe I would model the behavior of acceptance and value of all staff. I am a strong believer of team work and I will model those beliefs throughout my career of nursing. 

References:

World Health Organisation. (2016). Health System. Equity. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/healthsystems/topics/equity/en/

CQUniversity Australia. (2015). NHLT12002- Inclusive Practice: Study Guide. Rockhampton, QLD.