A healthcare provider needs to know a patient’s race to avoid medical implications that may occur in certain races. Moreover, learning a patient’s race prevents interference with cultural traits that may affect the role of a nurse to get accurate information from the patient. In our case, the newly Registered Nurse (RN) has encountered a situation where a patient’s medical record, the space for racial classification has been left blank. This situation is beyond the nurse’s control limit, but they have to treat the patient with or without race details. Due to this situation, she is confused about the terms to use while addressing the patient. Looking closely, at the patient’s appearance, the nurse might assume that he is African American, but she has no idea where his ancestors might have lived. In this case, the nurse might be very careful with their language to address the patient to avoid any conflicts. Assumptions should be avoided in this case since some languages might interfere with the patient’s responses.
This is a challenging task for the nurse, but they can handle the situation without annoying the patient and gathering information about their race. One of the ways that the nurse can use this is by avoiding assumptions. It is essential for a nurse not to make assumptions about a culture they are not familiar with. In case of assumptions, it might lead to trust breakdown and interfere with treatment acceptance. Since the racing space is blank, the nurse should consider asking a few questions to help understand the patient’s race. Most people are proud of their cultures, and they are willing to educate others about their practices. The nurse should also use respectful and understandable language to everyone when seeking information. The language barrier is one of the causes of poor treatment and poor choice of language. The nurse might miss so much information because of the assumptions they make. Body language should communicate openness and intent to hear what the patient is saying. Nurses should also practice active listening when gathering information from the patient. This ensures that the patient does not get distracted and gives them the confidence they require to give out information.
Different terminologies are used to best address patients of color. Rather than ignoring race or taking a “race-neutral” stance, dismantling racism requires an anti-racist approach to every patient (Haeny et al., 2021). The best language to use is a racialized person or group instead of a racial minority, a person of color, or non-white. Racialized group or person term is considered to be respectful and not harsh. When addressing people of color, it should not sound like they are being separated from other citizens. Still, instead, they should be addressed as part of society by using terms that associate with them. In other words, they create the probability of discrimination which might interfere with the ethical way of providing healthcare (Adamson & Smith, 2018). Sometimes it is difficult to make specific addresses, but the terms used should create tension in any situation. Everyone has the right to be addressed appropriately and with respect. Having details on the patient’s race is very important for a healthcare provider. This information helps nurses identify the specific language they are supposed to use without offending the patient or offending their culture. The interest of a nurse is to ensure that patients are well treated and get back their health. Failure to know the origin might result in conflicts and the inability to offer the intended treatment.
References
Adamson, A. S., & Smith, A. (2018). Machine learning and health care disparities in dermatology. JAMA dermatology, 154(11), 1247-1248.
Haeny, A. M., Holmes, S. C., & Williams, M. T. (2021). The need for shared nomenclature on racism and related terminology in psychology.Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(5), 886–892. Web.