Cultural competency and cultural safety are key skills for nurses to acquire and sustain. Similarly, nurse managers need to understand their roles in supporting cultural competency and safety at both the individual and the organizational level. More than ever, nurses must be culturally competent and culturally safe in their everyday practice regardless of the health settings in which they work. On the other hand, globalization also brings increased ethnic and cultural diversity within health care organizations, which affects the way nurses deliver care and how they interact with nurses coming from other countries. Due to the effects of globalization, economic policies, financial constraints, and forced migrations due to environmental or armed conflicts, nurses are providing health care to very diverse and sometimes vulnerable populations such as refugees and asylum seekers ( Racine & Lu, 2015). 2.1 Cultural DiversityĬanada, the United States, and European nations are presently facing a migration crisis of a magnitude that has not been seen since the massive population displacements of the post–World War II era ( Fleras, 2015). Results of misunderstandings and misinterpretations related to cultural and generational differences can be costly to organizations as they can result in increased absenteeism, decreased staff satisfaction, and decreased quality patient care ( Weingarten, 2009). When conflict and disharmony occur within a team, the nurse leader plays a significant role. Demographics, language, education, cultural, gender, race, and generational differences are factors that have increased conflict within health care teams, which is associated with burnout and decreased job satisfaction ( Almost, 2006 Mortell, 2013). Cultural and generational differences related to attitudes, beliefs, work habits, and expectations have proven to be challenging for nurse leaders ( Kramer, 2010) and will continue to be a critical managerial and leadership priority. These changes have led to a growing challenge in nursing leadership related to the management of a culturally diverse work environment. Such changes to the cultural reconfiguration of the prairie landscape will affect workplace diversity. For example, the top ten countries from which immigrants come to Saskatchewan have been Philippines, India, China, Pakistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Bangladesh, Iraq, and South Africa (The Canadian Magazine of Immigration, 201 6). The number of new immigrants and their geographical locations could affect the ethnocultural diversity of various regions in Canada. The influx of immigrants to Canada has been characterized by sustained immigration and an increased diversification of immigrants, which has been designed to meet Canada’s economic needs and to provide a welcome refuge for vulnerable refugees. Data suggest that in 2011, 20 per cent of the Canadian population were immigrants, and projections are that the percentage of immigrants in Canada will continue to increase ( Statistics Canada, 2017). In Canada, the general population is becoming increasingly diverse in colour, culture, religion, ethnicity, and origin ( Statistics Canada, 2017).
Describe how the nurse leader can manage workplace diversity.Explore the issues of workplace diversity in health care organizations for nursing staff, nurse leaders, and patients and families.Articulate the generational differences among Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y.Identify theoretical models that can facilitate culturally competent patient care.Discuss cultural diversity and the ways in which people differ.Understand the concepts of culture, cultural competence, and cultural safety in leading and managing nursing.We conclude with strategies for managing workplace diversity. Finally, we will discuss how diversity applies to new generations and see how intergenerational conflicts arise from different cultural beliefs. We review the role of nurse managers in supporting the implementation of culturally competent care with clients and within health care organizations. Third, we present theories that can be used to guide the implementation and delivery of culturally competent nursing care. Second, we explore the differences between cultural competency and cultural safety. In this chapter, we first review cultural diversity, ethnicity, race, cultural competency, and cultural safety. As the nursing workforce and demographic patterns change, it is important for nurse leaders to understand and influence staff with various values, beliefs, and expectations. Workplace diversity is becoming increasingly important in Canadian health care settings. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ma( Phillips, 1999, p.136 ) Introduction In a multi-race society, no group can make it alone.