Diverse Workforce, Case Study Example

Introduction

A diverse workforce is a necessary requirement in all health care organizations in this day and age. Preparation of a competent culturally diverse workforce should therefore be a dream of all health care organizations (Borkowski, 2005). The most important consideration in a diverse workforce are skills, behaviors, knowledge as well as attitudes of the workers who are charged with the responsibilities of providing the optimal services in health care settings to a people with great array of cultural as well as ethnic backgrounds.

The United States is characterized by a dynamic demography in terms of ethnicities, cultures, norms and behaviors and therefore, providing appropriate health care to such a diverse population requires and a lucid knowledge of a variety of cultural beliefs in the population. Most of the future professionals in health care must be prepared to take care of patients whose background that are completely different and thus a clear understanding of diverse systems of beliefs, family structures, and biases in culture and ethnic origins is a requirement. Gaining skills in behaviors of different people and the dynamics of groups is prudent for coping with behavioral problems in the workplace including high rates of turnover, poor performance and motivation, poor communication and dealing with stress and conflicts. This knowledge is important in predicting and influencing staff behaviors for the purpose of achievement of success in the organization as a result of enhance satisfaction in the workplace which consequently leads to increased productivity (Tatli & Ozbilgin, 2009).

Diversity in the workplace is a reality and it is a reflection of actual differences in health care outcomes. Employees in health care must not disregard the influence of barriers attributed to language, religious taboos, traditional and alternative medicine and explanatory disease models so that they are effective in patient satisfaction and delivery of optimum care to the patients.

Case Description

A diverse workforce is of paramount importance in health care organization. This is attributed to the roles played by people and institutions in response to the ever escalating ethnic as well as racial diversity in health care. A diverse workforce contributes significantly in enhancing sufficiency of health care services in a culturally competent manner to the rapidly increasing minority United States communities.  Diverse workforce in health also plays a crusial role in the expansion of access to health care for the less privileged and encourage research in fields of societal needs that are commonly neglected (Brownell, 2003). The policymakers and managers also benefit from diverse workforce because they are empowered to address the needs arising from diverse populations.

Discussion and Evaluation

The United States is a nation that has a wide array of ethnicities as well as races and it is continuously becoming diverse in many other aspects. The issue of diverse workforce in health is therefore of paramount significance. This is a nation that has gathered people from different ethnic and racial backgrounds as indicated in the census figures of 1980 to 2000. According to the available statistics from these censuses, the rate of increase of minority populations surpasses the white populations. The census conducted in 2000 for example indicated that, the Asian community, the Native Americans, Hispanics as well as African Americans contribute to 50 percent of the entire population in California (Harvey, 2012). These are remarkable demographic trends that highlight the significance of the case of diverse workforce in health care of the United States.

Conclusion

Diverse workforce in the United States is a facilitator for fulfillment of fundamental obligations of health care workers. The duty of protection of health for the American people, improvement as well as restoration depends on involvement of a diverse workforce in health care institutions.

References

Borkowski, N., (2005). Organizational Behavior in Health Care. Forward pg xi. James and Bartlett.Sudbury MA.

Brownell, J., (2003). “Developing Receiver-Centered Communication in Diverse Organizations”. Listening Professional, 2(1), 5-25.

Harvey, C. P., (2012). Understanding and Managing Diversity. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Tatli, A. & Ozbilgin, M., (2009). “Understanding Diversity Managers’ Role in Organizational Change: Towards a Conceptual Framework”. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences 26: 244–58.