Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

Diversity and Health Assessments Essay

Nurse work with diverse patient populations, including the vulnerable and underserved. Understanding different socioeconomic, cultural, religious, and lifestyle elements that influence the health outcomes of members of a specific group is critical in developing health history. The ability to provide culturally appropriate health care services for the diverse population is a vital competence in nursing. For instance, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,and queer (LGBTQ) is a minority group that phases many health disparities owing to their lifestyle, discrimination, discrimination, and socioeconomic status. Hence, working with a member of this population requires considering the factors that influence their health outcome. Additionally, applying sensitivity when collecting health history is essential to promote trust and avoid stigma. The case provided is of a 33-year-old Caucasian male. The relevant patient factors are transgender, HIV (3 years), cigarette smoking, lack of stable home, loss of employment, marijuana smoking, and overall health decline.

Socioeconomic, Lifestyle, and Other Cultural Factors

According to research, sexual minority identity is associated with low socioeconomic status (Masa et al., 2018). LGBTQ is a sexual minority group, which phases numerous socioeconomic challenges because of its controversial social status. For example, they find it hard to secure a good job compared to their heterosexual counterparts. In the case study, John Green is unemployed and moved back to stay with his parents meaning he lacks a stable place. These are indicators of poor socioeconomic status, leading to poor health outcomes and exposure to health risks. For example, the health risks associated with poor socioeconomic status in the LGBTQ population include malnutrition, cancers, cardiovascular issues, substance use, obesity, isolation, depression, anxiety, sexually transmitted diseases, and suicide (Jennings et al., 2019).Since the patient has HIV, they need proper nutrition and health care; however, the socioeconomic conditions compromise chances of eating healthy meals.

LGBTQ is a distinct group with a lifestyle different from the general population. The lifestyle exposes members of this population to negative health outcomes. The patient has HIV, which is highly prevalent in this population. The patient is also at risk of acquiring other sexually transmitted diseases,including human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis C, herpes, syphilis, and gonorrhea. Additionally, the patient does not practice any health and physical activity regime to promote good health. Similarly, John Green has been smoking a cigarette for the last ten years, two packs each day, and visits 3-6 marijuana smoking joints in a week. These habits put him at risk of developing cardiovascular conditions. Nicotine, an element from a cigarette, causes plaques in the arteries, reducing the capacity of the vessels to supply blood sufficiently to all parts of the body. The outcome is hypertension, eventually culminating into blocked blood vessels, clotting, or rapture, all having fatal consequences on a person. Furthermore, smoking increases the risk of developing lung cancer.

Unpleasant encounters with healthcare services further aggravate the problems experienced by LGBTQ members. In most cases, they meet healthcare professionals with negative attitudes, leading to experiences of stigma, making them shy away from accessing health services. A survey of LGBTQ experiences shows that they experience discrimination, as they are turned away when they seek health services due to negative attitudes towards them (Henriquez & Ahmad, 2021). Moreover, after being turned away, they continue to have challenges finding alternative health services. They prefer to stay away from health facilities to avoid such treatments. Incidences of racism have a great psychological effect on members of the group, causing poor quality of life. John Green admits that he has not had any health check-ups since he changed to transgender two years ago. Frequent health check-ups are recommended for the LGBTQ population because of the numerous health issues they face. Frequent health checks and monitoring are essential for preventing and early identification of diseases such as cancer in treatable stages.

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Consideration of Sensitive Issues

Studies reveal that the greatest challenge in reducing the disparities in healthcare outcomes between the LGBTQ population and the heterosexual is poor knowledge and attitudes of healthcare workers towards members of the LGBTQ (Dutton et al., 2022). As a result, a lack of awareness and knowledge of the unique needs of the LGBTQ population makes healthcare workers treat members of this group with insensitivity. When collecting health information, the nurse needs to practice sensitivity and ensure that they do not make judgmental statements that can upset the patient and prevent them from providing pertinent information. Thus, building rapport and creating an environment of trust where the patient can share his problems is important (Dutton et al., 2022).

Since the patient is transgender, the nurse might have to ask some questions that would be uncomfortable to both parties. For example, the nurse will collect information about the patient’s partner and whether they are infected. Moreover, the nurse will assess his knowledge of sexually transmitted conditions and available options for protection against disease transmission. Furthermore, the nurse must avoid biased attitudes that promote stigma. Another important communication strategy to demonstrate sensitivity is empathy and compassion. Empathy allows the patient to know that the provider is listening to them and understands what they are going through., making them comfortable to confide in the clinician.

Targeted Questions

1. Are your family members supportive of your decision of transformation?
2. What challenges do you experience when trying to access health services?
3. Do you have a sexual partner? What is her HIV status?
4. Do you use protection during intercourse?
5. Have you had any other sexually transmitted diseases apart from HIV?
6. Would you like me to connect you with employment resources?
7. Do you ever feel depressed or like you want to harm yourself?

References

Dutton, S., Cimino, A., Lombardo, M., Mackay, P., Borthwick, J., & Wright, N. (2022). Assessing knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of nurses about LGBTQ older adults using a documentary video. Nurse Education Today, 108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2021.105177.

Henriquez, N. R., & Ahmad, N. (2021). “The Message Is You Don’t Exist”: Exploring Lived Experiences of Rural Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) People Utilizing Health care Services. SAGE Open Nursing, https://doi.org/10.1177/23779608211051174.

Jennings, L., Barcelos, C., McWilliamsa, C., & Malecki, K. (2019). Inequalities in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health and health care access and utilization in Wisconsin. Preventive Medicine Reports, 14, 100864. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2019.100864.

Masa, R., Shangani, S., & Operario, D. (2018). Socioeconomic status and psychosocial resources mediate Racial/Ethnic differences in psychological health among gay and bisexual men: A longitudinal analysis using structural equation modeling. American Journal of Men’s Health, Volume, 15(2),https://doi.org/10.1177/15579883211001197.

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NURS-6512: Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning. Week 2: Functional Assessments and Cultural and Diversity Awareness in Health Assessment
Discussion: Diversity and Health Assessments. Due on 3/9/22. 2 peers’ response.
May 2012, Alice Randall wrote an article for The New York Times on the cultural factors that encouraged black women to maintain a weight above what is considered healthy. Randall explained—from her observations and her personal experience as a black woman—that many African-American communities and cultures consider women who are overweight to be more beautiful and desirable than women at a healthier weight. As she put it, “Many black women are fat because we want to be” (Randall, 2012). Randall’s statements sparked a great deal of controversy and debate; however, they emphasize an underlying reality in the healthcare field: different populations, cultures, and groups have diverse beliefs and practices that impact their health. Nurses and healthcare professionals should be aware of this reality and adapt their health assessment techniques and recommendations to accommodate diversity.
In this Discussion, you will consider different socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors that should be taken into considerations when building a health history for patients with diverse backgrounds. Your Instructor will assign a case study to you for this Discussion.
To prepare:
• Reflect on your experiences as a nurse and on the information provided in this week’s Learning Resources on diversity issues in health assessments.
• By Day 1 of this week, you will be assigned a case study by your Instructor. Note: Please see the “Course Announcements” section of the classroom for your case study assignment.
• Reflect on the specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors related to the health of the patient assigned to you.
• Consider how you would build a health history for the patient. What questions would you ask, and how would you frame them to be sensitive to the patient’s background, lifestyle, and culture? Develop five targeted questions you would ask the patient to build his or her health history and to assess his or her health risks.
• Think about the challenges associated with communicating with patients from a variety of specific populations. What strategies can you as a nurse employ to be sensitive to different cultural factors while gathering the pertinent information?
By Day 3 of Week 2
Post an explanation of the specific socioeconomic, spiritual, lifestyle, and other cultural factors associated with the patient you were assigned. Explain the issues that you would need to be sensitive to when interacting with the patient, and why. Provide at least five targeted questions you would ask the patient to build his or her health history and to assess his or her health risks.