10 Strategies Nurse Leaders Can Use to Promote Cultural Diversity in Nursing
Written By:
Darby Faubion
Darby Faubion RN, BSN, MBA
Darby Faubion is a nurse and allied health instructor with over 20 years of clinical experience. Darby lives in Louisiana and loves exploring the state’s rich culture and history. Darby has a passion for caring for veterans and a special interest in those affected by post-traumatic stress disorder. In her quest to make a difference for veterans, she founded a non-profit called “Operation Battle Buddy.” Read Full Bio »» RN, BSN, MBA
In the world of healthcare, creating an atmosphere that fosters cultural diversity is essential. For nurse leaders, finding ways to cultivate and maintain cultural diversity is paramount to managing effective teams and providing high quality patient care. If you are a nurse leader, you may wonder, “What strategies can nurse leaders use to promote cultural diversity in nursing?”
As a nurse with leadership experience, I understand the importance of promoting cultural diversity and its impact on patients, teams, and organizations. In this article, I will share 10 strategies nurse leaders can use to promote cultural diversity in nursing. You will find that by implementing these simple strategies, you can help create an atmosphere where patients and staff feel valued, heard, and respected, which improves outcomes for everyone.
What Strategies Can Nurse Leaders Use To Promote Cultural Diversity In Nursing?
(The following are the 10 Strategies Nurse Leaders Can Use to Promote Cultural Diversity in Nursing.)
STRATEGY #1: Recruit Candidates from Diverse Backgrounds
One of the best strategies nurse leaders can use to promote cultural diversity in nursing is to recruit and hire nursing staff from diverse backgrounds. Depending on the size of your organization or company, you may consider developing a hiring panel made up of a diverse group of members, which helps reduce biases in the recruitment process. When posting job openings, be sure to highlight the fact that your company is committed to diversity and equality and ensure that job postings are shared across several platforms so they reach diverse populations of nurses.
STRATEGY #2: Encourage Employment of Multilingual Staff
Having a multilingual staff is beneficial for both patients and team members. As a nurse leader, if you have diversity in your team, including having nurses who speak more than one language, it promotes enhanced communication. Enhanced communication leads to better patient care, patient compliance, good nurse-patient relationships, and improved patient outcomes. Additionally, from a legal perspective, having multilingual staff helps your facility
comply with federal legal requirements for providing equitable care, including providing language access services for all patients.
STRATEGY #3: Recognize Personal Biases
Even the best leaders among us can have cultural biases that can impact interactions with others as well as our decision-making abilities. One way we can promote cultural diversity in nursing is to recognize and address those biases. By recognizing and addressing personal biases, you foster a spirit of respect among team members and empathy for patients. Acknowledging biases promotes a culture of continuous learning, challenging stereotypes and assumptions.
STRATEGY #4: Implement Mentorship Programs
Having worked in nurse leadership and as a nurse educator, I have seen firsthand the struggles that nurses of all levels face when it comes to cultural diversity. It can be especially challenging for new nurses to know where they fit in. As a nurse leader, you can promote cultural diversity by implementing mentorship programs to offer support from experienced nurses to help new nurses. Whether nurses are newly licensed or are transitioning to a new role, having someone to look to who is understanding and supportive and who demonstrates
cultural competence can make a big difference!
STRATEGY #5: Make Community Connections
Something I learned years ago was that effective nurse leaders must make themselves known. It takes getting outside of your comfort zone and removing yourself from the confines of your office if you truly want to promote cultural diversity in nursing. One way you can do this is by building relationships with institutions that serve minorities and various cultural organizations. There is a world of untapped talent and skill that many nurse leaders miss because they wait for nurses to come to them. I can tell you from experience that if you make community connections, you will find nurses from all walks of life that you may have never met any other way.
STRATEGY #6: Develop Employee Recognition Programs
We all like being told we are doing a good job and appreciate being recognized for our contributions, even if it is only once in a while. As a nurse leader, you are in an excellent position to promote cultural diversity in nursing by acknowledging and celebrating the hard work and contributions of the nurses on your team. Consider developing employee recognition programs that celebrate the accomplishments of nurses from diverse backgrounds through public acknowledgments and awards.
When nurses from diverse cultures experience appreciation and recognition, it builds self-esteem, which leads to improved employee morale and better work relationships and outcomes. Additionally, when nurses outside of your organization see how you embrace cultural diversity, it could draw them to your organization, which means you could increase your nursing staff's diversity even more.
STRATEGY #7: Partner with Diverse Nursing Associations
I love to encourage nurses to join nursing organizations and associations. They offer excellent resources for nurses at all stages of their careers. Nurse leaders who partner with diverse nursing associations experience several benefits that help promote cultural diversity within their facilities and organizations. For example, some associations provide access to resources like educational materials, mentorship training, and networking opportunities. A few examples of diverse nursing associations include the
National Association of Hispanic Nurses and the
National Black Nurses Association.
STRATEGY #8: Encourage Interprofessional Collaboration
In my articles, I often mention my experience working at a university hospital. It was one of the best experiences of my early nursing career. One of the things I loved about my job there was that I met and worked with doctors and nurses from many countries who were here in the U.S. studying, which meant I had opportunities to learn from them about their cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds.
As a nurse leader, you can promote cultural diversity in nursing by encouraging interprofessional collaboration. Interprofessional collaboration brings healthcare professionals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines together, broadens perspectives, and enhances communication. As a result, team members share knowledge, which leads to improved patient, professional, and organizational outcomes.
STRATEGY #9: Celebrate Cultural Events
Several years ago, I worked in a long-term care facility. One of my friends worked there as the Activity Coordinator. She not only planned monthly birthday parties to celebrate the residents and coordinated daily games and activities, but she also put special effort into celebrating different cultural events. On St. Patrick’s Day, she made sure every resident had something green to wear or pin on their clothes. Mardis Gras always brought a parade around the facility with residents wearing masks and costumes. We celebrated Holi, the Indian festival of colors, Thanksgiving, and Hanukkah, to name a few other events.
The level to which you can celebrate events may be limited based on where you work. However, it is still possible to celebrate important cultural events. Get to know your staff and what is important to them. Then, try to incorporate what you learn into events that everyone can celebrate together. It builds a sense of togetherness that promotes strong teams, which benefits everyone.
STRATEGY #10: Ask For and Be Receptive to Feedback
Cultural diversity in nursing impacts team dynamics and influences nurse-patient relationships. As a nurse leader, one of the most important things you can do to promote cultural diversity within your organization is to encourage feedback and act on suggestions from patients and staff.
One strategy I found helpful when seeking feedback from staff and patients was creating surveys that they could complete anonymously. Although some nurses and patients are comfortable talking about personal issues, others are not as open. In those cases, anonymous surveys may help get their message across without causing them to feel uneasy. When patients or staff are willing to talk to you about cultural issues, actively listen. Active listening is one of the most important skills anyone can develop, and it is especially important in nursing. Engage in the conversation and find ways to act on the things they share with you, which shows you value their thoughts and feelings, leading to improved relationships.
My Final Thoughts
Nurse leaders play a crucial role in fostering cultural diversity within the profession. As a nurse leader, it is good to ask, “What strategies can nurse leaders use to promote cultural diversity in nursing?” In this article, I shared 10 strategies nurse leaders can use to promote cultural diversity in nursing. From active listening to cultural competence training and employee recognition, there are many ways you can promote cultural diversity within your team and your organization. By choosing to lead with empathy and respect and by setting an example for others to follow, you can develop a supportive, diverse nursing team that works together, enhancing and improving patient, professional, and organizational outcomes.
List Of Sources Used For This Article
1.
“Limited English Proficiency” (
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
2.
“What Is Cultural Competence in Nursing? (With Examples, Importance, & Barriers)” (
nursingprocess.org)
Darby Faubion, RN, BSN, MBA
Darby Faubion is a nurse and allied health instructor with over 20 years of clinical experience. Her work history includes clinical experience in pediatrics, mental health, addiction and behavioral disorders, geriatrics, wound management, and communicable disease. Darby has worked in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home health and hospice agencies. Darby also has experience as a nursing and allied health educator at both community college and university levels. Her love for nursing and nursing education led to her becoming a test-taking strategist and NCLEX prep coach.