The Concept of Racism and Abuse of Power in Our Society free essay sample

This paper will use the movie Crash (Haggis, 2005) to examine the concept of racism and abuse of power in our society. Haggis demonstrates how everyone’s lives are intertwined and how the powerfully destructive impact of racist views impede ones ability to function justly. Madeline Leningers theory on transcultural nursing along with the RNAO guidelines and an article called Racism and Its Implications in Ethical-Moral Reasoning in Nursing Practice: A tentative approach to a largely unexplored topic written by Maya Shaha (1998) will help exhibit the repercussions racism has for nurses and the many other health care professionals. Brief Summary of the Movie The film Crash (Higgins, 2005) displays how numerous unrelated peoples lives entwine with one another while dealing with stressed racial situations. There is a Caucasian District attorney who is using race as his agenda. His wife and him are carjacked by two black men. The two young black men use their race to their advantage and as an excuse to commit crimes. The D. A’s wife feels that she is not racist but justified in her thought process as she knew that situation would happen. She also does not trust the Hispanic locksmith changing her locks after the incident, and verbalizes her feelings in front of him, making him feel degraded. There is a black film director and his black wife that feels he is demeaning his race and â€Å"acting† white to fit in with the film industry he works for. When they are pulled over by two white police constables she gets violated by one who is racist and is abusing his power. The husband stands back and watches in fear of being shot, and the wife feels as though he does not care. A Parisian store owner, who is often misidentified as being Middle Eastern, gets into an altercation with the Hispanic locksmith as he does not understand what the locksmith is telling him about changing his locks. The Parisians store gets robbed and he attempts to take it out on the Hispanic locksmith with intentions of shooting him. At the end of the film when there is an actual crash the white racist police constable reaches into an overturned vehicle in flames to discover it’s the black female he violated who does not trust him to safely remove her and freaks out. Nursing Implications Racism as defined by Dictionary. com (2014) states that is â€Å" a belief or doctrine that inherits differences among the various races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that ones own race is superior and has the right to rule others†. Racism has been around for hundreds of years. There is no room for racism in nursing, although it does happen. The patients that nurses are treating are in a vulnerable state. They should be able to feel comfortable with their healthcare professional and should be able to trust them and the decisions they make regarding their care. The mission of the College of Nurses of Ontario is †to protect the public’s right to quality nursing services by providing leadership to the nursing profession in self-regulation (College of Nurses of Ontario, 2009, p. 2) and they define nursing as the therapeutic relationship that enables the client to attain, maintain or regain optimal function by promoting the client’s health through assessing, providing care for and treating the client’s health conditions. This is achieved by supportive, preventive, therapeutic, palliative and rehabilitative means. The relationship with an individual client may be a direct practice role or it may be indirect, by means of management, education or research roles (CNO, 2009, Para 4). If racism is present when a nurse is treating a patient then the care that they receive may not be in their best interest. The patient may not trust the nurse providing care, in the same way that the film depicted the fear of the female at the end of the film that he violated. He abused his power and lost her trust due to his racist views and actions. As a nurse you are meant to use your position and knowledge to help educate your patient, not to instil fear in them. There are different situations that may arise in nursing with regards to racism. There may be nurse-patient racism, patient-nurse racism, patient-patient racism, and nurse-nurse racism. All of these types of scenarios that may present themselves do not result in the best care for a client. Being exposed to racism in the health care field can lead to stress related to making ethical decisions. A racist mind-set may be articulated through negative remarks about culturally different clients. Shaha (1998) states that According to Leininger, nurses’ ethnocentric attitudes towards culturally different clients may result in difficulties in nurse–client relationships. Such difficulties may have an ethical–moral dimension. In maintaining an ethnocentric attitude towards these clients, nurses may violate their dignity and autonomy (Leininger, 1991 as cited by Shaha, 1998). In the first type of scenario, if a nurse is racist towards a patient they may not take their cultural beliefs or rituals seriously, which my damage the trust you have with that patient. A nurse needs to be culturally aware when dealing with different races. Leninger (1991) describes it best when she writes that transcultural nursing is a comparative study of cultures to understand similarities (culture universal) and differences (culture-specific) across human groups. Furthermore, Leininger (1999) illustrates that our biases and prejudice usually come from distorted misinterpretation of past experiences or pure lack of knowledge, without any logical reason at all. As a nurse you cannot impose your beliefs on your patient. You need to remain open-minded and assist them with their own beliefs. In the second type of scenario, if a patient is racist towards their nurse it may be harmful to their health as they may not take the nurse or healthcare professional’s advice. Health Care professionals should not have to deal with racism in the workforce from their patients or from co-workers. That being said the nurse needs to be compassionate and understand that the patient might not be aware of what they are saying. If the patient is aware of what they are saying the nurse should try not to take it personally and should remain professional when dealing with the patient. If this is not possible than the nurse should attempt to find someone else to provide the patients care. In the last two scenarios, with patient-patient or nurse-nurse racism, the tension present causes an uncomfortable environment to work in. It creates stress among the other patients or staff working. Any issues amongst co-workers or between clients should be addressed immediately to avoid any further complications, such as arguments or abuse. In order to defeat racism in nursing one must be aware of their views on different cultures along with their views on their own culture. Nurses need to have respect for their patients’ beliefs and provide care to them regardless of their ethnic origin. Today’s society is rapidly growing and nurses need to be able to meet the needs of culturally diverse patients. They need to understand the differences in numerous ethnicities and develop strategies to use the resources available to overcome misunderstandings they may have. If nurses do not change any ethnocentric views they may have it may hinder care as â€Å"Maintaining an ethnocentric attitude towards culturally different clients will also hinder the building of a therapeutic nurse–client relationship, which is believed to be supportive in delivering care† (Shaha, 1998). The registered Nurses Association of Ontario discusses how culturally diverse the Canadian population is becoming with immigration and mentions that the newer generations, which are combined of numerous cultures, will not only be accessing our health care system but will also potentially become our future nurses. It is important to be open-minded as â€Å"They bring with them different cultural norms and traditions, different values and beliefs about health and about illness and its treatment, all of which will influence their views about health care delivery in general, and nursing in particular† (RNAO,2007, pg 17, para 2). It is important to remain unbiased as there is a â€Å"Correlation between nurses’ ego-defensiveness and their attitudes in caring for these clients, that there is a correlation between the closed mindedness of nurses and their attitudes, and that both ego-defensiveness and open–closed mindedness together have an effect on the attitudes of nurses towards culturally different clients† (Shaha, 1998, p. 141). Ways to remain open minded are outlined in the RNAO’s best practice Guidelines. See appendix A. Assumptions and Learning My assumptions about the topic of racism were correct. I assumed that it was present in numerous aspects of life. Although it is not as predominant as it once was it still does occur. I did not however assume that there was racism present in the nursing field. As a nurse you are meant to provide client based care regardless of age, race, sex, religion or any other factors. After reading the article Racism and Its Implications in Ethical-Moral Reasoning in Nursing Practice: A tentative approach to a largely unexplored topic and relating it to the numerous theories on racism and ethnocentrism I am now more aware of racisms presence in the nursing field. I was naive in thinking that everyone that became a nurse was neutral in their thought processes. I was also naive in not acknowledging my own prejudices. It is human nature to have preconceived notions based on a lack of knowledge and understanding. Being human I am guilty of being prejudice. The key is being aware of this knowledge gap and correcting it. I have been prejudice in my past and it was simply because of my numerous undesirable previous experiences. As earlier stated prejudice usually come from distorted misinterpretation of past experiences or pure lack of knowledge (Leninger, 1999). I have had numerous unpleasant encounters with males of Middle Eastern descent and as a result I have unintentionally avoided situations where I would have to interact with them. It is completely unfair and unwarranted to assume that all males of that Middle Eastern descent act similarly. In order to correct my preconception, I am currently making friends with a male from Pakistan that is in my Interprofessional health class. I am asking questions in an attempt to learn more about his culture and rituals, in hopes that this will rid me of my bias. It is important to remove this bias as I will encounter numerous cultures in my future nursing career. My assumptions were wrong about racism in nursing and I have learned about the types of racism that are present in the health care system and the implications associated with racism. I have learned the importance of being aware of my own biased views and will continue to address any issues I may encounter in the future. General Public/Societal View Based on the film Crash (2005), it would appear that racism is not okay, but the topic gets â€Å"swept under the rug† as it is a sensitive subject. Racism and it unmerited negative side effects are discussed regularly and society has come a long way but society also needs to realize that it still does occur. It brings to the forefront the concept of nature versus nurture. Is it something we are born with? If not, and we are taught racism through our peers, families and media exposure we should be working to eliminate it. I feel that it has a lot to do with what one is exposed to as a child and the way they one is brought up. Why is there still racism occurring and why do we see it in the health care field? We see it because of the ignorance associated with the touchy subject. It needs to be brought front and center for the issue to fully be abolished Personal Views and Strategies My views on the topic of racism in nursing have changed from unaware to informed. I am now more aware of the detrimental effects racism plays in the world of nursing. I am also aware of the lack of knowledge other people may also be experience and the importance of the theories that have been put in place to address this issue. The movie Crash displays just how often racism occurs in society and how it affects many people but is not addressed. In the future to ensure that I continue to be open-minded and respectful when learning about other cultures I will attempt to make my nursing actions culture specific. Firstly, I need to acknowledge my own feelings and behaviours toward working with clients, families and colleagues who have different cultural backgrounds, health behaviours, belief systems, and work practices. In order to do this I will need to read and learn about different cultures. By reading about different cultures I will be more prepared when I first encounter that culture. I will continue to complete self-reflections to assist in evaluating my response to different cultures that I encounter. By completing self reflections and incorporating feedback from peers I will be able to evaluate if my views have changed and it will ensure that I stay on track and remain open-minded. It is important that I am aware of my own views of differences among people, and reflect on how my own biases, personal values and beliefs may affect others. I will also ensure that I am aware of the disparities and determinants of health such as income, self-perception, education, gender and culture that exist for various populations, and understand the factors and processes that contribute to them. Being aware of these inconsistencies will in turn allow me to be familiar with how culture and diversity influence behaviours and interactions. I will â€Å"Develop and apply cultural competence knowledge and skills in the areas of communication, care planning, conflict resolution and change management† as per the RNAO (2007) guidelines. It is also important to educate those I am surrounded by about the issues of racism in nursing and in society to help bring awareness to the issue. By completing the self reflections, becoming aware of my own biases, and being aware of the differences in various cultures I will be able to provide impartial care to my patients and will continue to be respectful and unprejudiced. Conclusion Racism is prevalent in society and in the health care field. It is imperative to be aware of ones own biases to avoid incurring unequal care to ones patients. It is essential to continually educate oneself on the numerous cultures in society and learn about the differences present. As a nurse I will continue to learn and be open-minded. Education and knowledge is key in eliminating racism from society. Appendix A Individual Recommendations For each individual, embracing diversity means development of the following competencies and behaviours. RECOMMENDATION 1. Self Awareness – To learn to embrace diversity in individuals: 1. Perform self-reflection of one’s own values/beliefs, incorporating feedback from peers. 2. Express an awareness of one’s own views of differences among people (e. g. different opinions, different world views, different races, different values, and different views of society). 3. State and continually explore, through reflection and feedback, how one’s own biases, personal values, and beliefs, affect others. 4. Identify cultural differences among clients and colleagues in the practice setting. 5. Acknowledge one’s own feelings and behaviours toward working with clients, families and colleagues who have different cultural backgrounds, health behaviours, belief systems, and work practices. Explore one’s strategies for resolving conflicts that arise between self and colleagues and/or clients from diverse groups. 7. Identify and seek guidance, support, knowledge and skills from role models who demonstrate cultural proficiency. 8. Recognize and address inequitable, discriminatory, and/or racist behaviours or institutional practices when they occur. 9. Acknowledge the presence or absence of individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds at all levels in the workplace, reflecting the cultural makeup of the clients or community being served. Reflect and act on ways to be inclusive in all aspects of ones practice. 2. Communication – To develop communication skills that promote culturally diverse settings: 1. Are aware of different communication styles and the influence of culture on communication. 2. Are aware of one’s preferred communication style, its strengths and limitations, and how it affects colleagues and recipients of care. 3. Seek feedback from clients and colleagues, and participate in communication validation exercises (e. g. role-playing exercises, case studies). Use a range of communication skills to effectively communicate with clients and colleagues (e. g. empathetic listening, reflecting, non-judgmental open-ended questioning). 5. Seek and participate in learning opportunities that include a focus on communication and diversity. 3. New Learning – To attain cultural competence in individuals: 1. Acquire knowledge of the range of cultural norms, beliefs and values relevant to clients and colleagues as a starting point to foster understanding – and further inquiry. Are aware of the disparities (e. g. health outcomes, access to care, economics, job opportunities) that exist for diverse populations, and understand the factors and processes that contribute to them. 3. Recognize how culture and diversity influence behaviours and interactions. 4. Develop and apply cultural competence knowledge and skills in the areas of communication, care planning, conflict resolution and change management. 5. Access, utilize, and partner with cultural resources. Anticipated Outcomes: A workforce composed of nurses who are open-minded, inclusive, and respectful of all colleagues and recipients of nursing services. Individual members of the workforce identify and are co-operative with one another to address barriers to equity and diversity, and build practice environments in which every person’s contribution is valued thus allowing the full potential of all to be maximized. These individuals refuse to participate in discrimination, harassment or bullying and address the issue in a way.