LONG-TERM CARE AND RESPECTING OF THE SOCIO-CULTURAL AND PHISICAL DIVERSITIES AMONG NURSING STAFF AND RESIDENTS WITHIN THE ELDERLY HOMES

Abstract

According to a 2019 report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, racial and ethnic minorities face more barriers to care and receive poorer quality of care when they can get it. Findings from the report included: Blacks received worse care than whites, and Hispanics received worse care than non-Hispanic whites for about 40% of quality measures. American Indians and Alaska Natives received worse care than whites for one-third of quality measures.
It is especially important to notice that the diversity will improve patient-nurse communication, collaboration and clinical practice for patients of all backgrounds. Experts believes the preparation to attain a formal education begins with good prenatal care, proper nutrition and support for parents. Also, there is a difference between caregivers who tend to look more toward the physical aspects of illness, and the ones who are accustomed to a holistic way of viewing a person. This paper presents the dimension of significance of socio-cultural and physical differences, both between medical staff and patients. On the basis of the stated, it is pointed out that it is necessary to respect the diversity and to emphasize mutual cooperation and positive communication in order to maximize the retention of professionalism, both between the medical staff and the sister-patient relationship. Increasing the numbers of minority and disadvantaged persons in the health and allied health professions to care for the underserved, such as the elderly, is an important component of health care reform. Shortages of minority providers may adversely affect access, cost, and quality of care. At the same time, the background and characteristics of many elderly nursing home staff may adversely affect their job performance. The lives of many nursing assistants, in particular, are beset with personal problems and tragedies that leave them with too few personal resources to respond effectively to residents and that interfere with their ability to provide quality care to the frail, dependent elderly. In their ethnographic study on quality of care, nursing homes, and nurse aides' cultures, Tellis-Nayak and Tellis-Nayak (2015, 307) concluded that the ''institutional culture of the average nursing home not only ignores the affective needs of the nurse's aides, but it even assaults their self-esteem." This paper presents the dimension of significance of socio-cultural and physical differences, both between medical staff and patients. On the basis of the stated, it is pointed out that it is necessary to respect the diversity and to emphasize mutual cooperation and positive communication in order to maximize the retention of professionalism, both between the medical staff and the sister-patient relationship. Regarding the methodological framework, the paper uses the method of content analysis, method of comparison, method of synthesis and generalization, in order to draw relevant recommendation. In conclusion, increasing diversity in the workforce, will take individual and group efforts. In addition, some organizations have very active programs to promote diversity in leadership, but the diversity gap in leadership continues. Following, it is important for the minorities to be able to
participate in making changes to improve the practice environment and outcomes, which is very important