Clinical Placement in a Nursing Home - Essay Example

Topic: Clinical Placement in a Nursing Home Lecturer: Presentation: Introduction This paper presents some recommendations onsome issues that can be addressed in order to improve the quality of service in the Nursing Home where the clinical placement was undertaken. It highlights cultural diversity in the workplace as the major aspect in the organization that requires improvement. The paper purports that inclusion of the minority cultures in all the management levels is significant for delivery of a culturally sound care. Some interventions such as affirmative action are important in ensuring that the minority groups such as professional immigrants and non-Christians are assigned high level management tasks. Even though there was no discrimination with respect to service delivery, care of patients or managing escalated emergencies, diversity in the workplace was not adequate and needed improvement especially in the higher levels of management. There were more of whites in the core administrative levels. Those at this core levels handled the most complex job roles regarding paper works and role description. They also coordinated work flows and ensures that everything is properly taken care of. At the support role level, there were more of immigrant staffs from the Eastern Europe and also some Asians predominantly the Philippines, assisting in the care support role for the residents. The staff population was predominantly Christians particularly at the higher administrative level. With regards to the residents, they were predominantly whites and a significant population of the mixed race and Afro Caribbean. The dominance of the mixed race and Afro Caribbean group was evidenced by their massive migration to work in the factories. Cultural Diversity Cultural diversity is necessary for the success of an organization. It affects professional and personal development. The workforce can not accomplish the desired completeness without cultural diversity. It helps in maintaining inclusion in the society (Scott, 2007). Hofsted defines culture as a tool that the mind applies to guide a person’s day to day activities and interactions with others. He believes that culture is a collective aspect of a population that has occupied a particular social environment where individuals learn unique norms and also develop standards that guide their behaviour. These behaviours make a distinction between cultures since all individuals in a particular culture share norms and customs (Hofstede, 1991). Different people have different talents which they can bring in to the work place to either help in problem solving or contribute to the productivity of an organization through innovativeness. These talents are also distributed across various cultures globally. For example, the Asian culture is popular for hospitality and a culture of collectivism. The British are presumed to be individualistic but hardworking. Excluding a particular culture or religion from certain positions in the organization inhibits the capability of people from offering their valuable contributions regarding the organization’s operations. Relying on the popular culture presents an organization with the risk of poor workplace performance since there is little chance of different opinions regarding issues (Pellet, 2004). This means that the approach to workplace issues is likely to be inclined towards a specific direction. In such a case, it may not be easy to solve problems. In workplaces whereby there are diverse cultures among the employees, sharing of creative ideas regarding the day to day tasks is important. This translates to benefits for every one involved. Each of the employees has an idea to share with the rest regarding how they do things in their culture. In the absence of cultural diversity, business operations are likely to be carried out in the conventional way throughout the life of the organization. This is a weakness in regard to the accomplishment of organizational goals, especially in the contemporary market place where the targeted consumers are from diverse cultures. The customer oriented production requires that the producer analyzes their needs, which is a major factor that determines consumer satisfaction (Pellet, 2004). The organization that demonstrates subordination of other cultures is likely to be faced with an unwelcoming attitude from clients who feel that “their people” are discriminated against in the organization. Recognizing cultural diversity means appreciating other people as members of a global society who have the potential to bring positive changes to the organizational productivity and competitiveness. Once people from a different culture from the mainstream feel appreciated, they are likely to perform better in the workplace, which is a factor that contributes to employee satisfaction. Cultural diversity also increases the expectations of employees when they learn that the tasks they perform are also performed elsewhere (Dessler, 2004). They can measure their own performance through making comparisons of their own experience with that of colleagues from different cultures. Cultural diversity promotes particular values in the organization such as leadership. It helps in promoting fair and just leadership. If an organization is to survive, it needs leaders who appreciate the services and opinion of people from various cultures (Dessler, 2004). Such leaders are likely to develop essential problem solving skills due to their exposure to various cultures, each of which has its own way of approaching issues. They develop the desired flexibility which is important for the success of the organization. This means that they are ready to steer the organization in the direction that presents greater chances of accomplishing organizational goals. The more flexible an organization is in dealing with a wide range of cultures, the more it attracts a wide market for its products. Cultural diversity in the workplace also enhances the organization’s integrity, in regard to the expectations of the society as well as the government. In the modern society, people are tending towards elimination of discrimination of whatever kind whether in communities or in the work place. The traditional setting is no longer working since people have become widely distributed all over the world. People are required to observe human rights and treat all people equally. Such values help in maintaining harmony amongst people from different cultures (Pellet, 2004). They are significant in eliminating certain undesirable attitudes that have existed for many years, such as racial, tribal and such basis for discriminating against fellow human beings. Instead of discrimination, people are made to work together, in which case they come to realize that irrespective of their color or ethnicity, they can strive to accomplish a common objective. In other words, an organization that promotes cultural diversity in the workplace contributes towards the elimination of undesirable qualities in the society, and development of peace that is essential for the survival of humanity (Sondra, 2003). Failure of organizations to adopt workplace diversity in many countries has hampered efforts aimed at reducing the gap between the rich and the poor. This happens in the situations whereby those who do not belong to the mainstream culture are not offered employment, or if they are employed, they are offered the lowest salary levels. In such organizations, the minority groups may never have a chance of developing their careers since their capabilities are always ignored. This means that only employees from the mainstream culture can accomplish their career and personal development goals (Parvis, 2003). The gap between the rich and the poor within the community therefore continues to be large. The major problem arises when the employees who belong to the popular culture are offered senior positions regardless of their qualifications. This may adversely affect the success of the organization. The potential of the minority cultures under such situations is left unutilized, and they may never be beneficial to the organization. In contrast, where cultural diversity is appreciated, it is only the skilled employees are hired for the job regardless of their cultural orientation (Dessler, 2004). This is one of the practices that have enabled many organizations to retain an experienced workforce, which translates to increased productivity. Affirmative action is a strategy aimed at promoting equal opportunities for members of a particular organization. It involves actions that enhance satisfaction among the employees, with the minority being included in important matters while the mainstream culture is made to understand that the minority group can be as important to the organization as every other person (Kersten, 2000). It is argued that this approach neutralizes any egoistic attitudes among the workers thereby promoting cultural cohesion. Employees in the nursing home are likely to forget their individual aspirations and embrace change if affirmative action is accomplished. This would motivate them to work towards achieving a shared vision rather than regard each other on the basis of cultural and religious background. In other words, the top management would not only comprise whites and Christians but also emigrants and non-Christians. References Dessler, G. (2004). Management Principles and Practices for Tomorrow’s Leaders. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall. Hofstede, G. (1991). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Kersten, A. (2000). “Diversity Management Dialogue, Dialectics and Diversion”. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 13, pp. 235-248. Parvis, L. (2003). “Diversity and effective leadership in multicultural workplaces”. Journal of Environmental Health, 65, pp.37-38. Pellet, J. 2004. “Driving diversity:  diverse work forces make for better companies”. Chief Executive, 198, pp. 48-55. Scott P. 2007. The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Sondra B. T. (2003). Making Diversity Work: 7 Steps for Defeating Bias in the Workplace, Chicago: Dearborn. Read More