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Diversity in Nursing

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Diversity in Nursing In this paper, I will summarize what I have learned about diversity in nursing and the effect that diversity has on the nursing community as well as the impact it has on the public related to health disparities. Diversity comes in many forms such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, culture, and ethnicity. The purpose of this paper is to discover the importance of diversity in the nursing profession.
Importance of Diversity in the Workplace The lack of diversity in the healthcare setting could be linked to health disparities. Health disparities are gaps in the quality of health and health care that mirror differences in socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic background and education level (Minority Health, n.d.). Baldwin states, “A lack of minority health care providers has a trickle down effect on the health care of ethnic and racial minorities (2003).” These groups are already at risk for increased morbidity and mortality rates. They have less access to proper health care and are a greater risk for declining health due to the small number of minority health care providers (Baldwin, 2003). Efforts have been made to recruit and retain minorities into the nursing profession however they have not been very successful. According to Huston, recruiting underrepresented groups has been difficult for many reasons. One of which could be that minorities receive inadequate preparatory education leading to poor reading, writing and critical thinking skills (Professional Issues in Nursing, p. 139-140). Other reasons may include lack of emotional support, feeling isolated, discrimination and financial issues (Loftin, Newman, Dumas, Gilden, & Bond, 2012).
Influence of Diversity on Nursing Care Huston said that the nursing workforce should be as diverse as the population it serves; having a diverse employee pool that mirrors the

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