Introduction
Discrimination against black women in the United States of America has been a significant ethical issue in nursing. Black women tend to have poor maternal health outcomes, increasing their death-related pregnancies. Racial discrimination has been extended to healthcare, creating a barrier that prevents minority groups from attaining quality health care. This issue is a critical factor that requires attention from relevant medical stakeholders. To improve the outcome of this condition, it is necessary to identify the ethical problem using Schwartz’s theory, providing room for possible mitigation and solution.
Discussion
Using the Ethical Decision-Making Theory from Schwartz, the problem of black women’s discrimination is because of individual factors and a lack of awareness. Individual elements involve factors such as ego and the field of work such as nursing and other moral characteristics of an individual. The moral attributes of individuals are dependent on the ethical value system, moral identity, and development. The theory postulates that one can act ethically and with commitment and strength to resist external activities that may force an individual to behave unethically. Nurses are professional individuals trained to act ethically while performing their duties. However, there are still various cases of discrimination that are associated with some of them (National Partnership for Women & Families, 2018). These cases are tied to personal prejudices that are linked to individual conditions. These types of nurses with such characteristics tend to believe that the patients they serve are not the same and that some of their skin colors are superior to others, making them act differently depending on the level of ego one possesses. Most discriminating cases are usually associated with individual factors of the nurses, making it a vital issue.
Lack of awareness is a significant problem in handling black women’s discrimination by nurses in healthcare facilities. Awareness is vital in enabling people to identify factors considered morally upright in society (Schwartz, 2015). It is essential to create awareness among nurses on the effects of discrimination in healthcare facilities and its impact on society. Some people perceive other races as inferior hence not finding it a critical problem when such races are mistreated. Discrimination is a long-term process that needs to be eradicated through necessary measures with early implementation to ensure that individuals are not used to such activities. Inadequate awareness of this issue explains the wide spread of black women discrimination in most US healthcare facilities (Schwartz, 2015). Additionally, there is a need for moral awareness as its absence leads to ethical fading, moral disengagement, and ethical blindness. Moral awareness is vital in reinforcing awareness of discrimination among healthcare givers. Its absence promotes unethical behavior among the nurses leading to discrimination cases.
Conclusion
Organizational environment and culture are critical factors contributing to discrimination in the healthcare facility. If the facility culture does not involve work diversity, it tends to increase the chances of discrimination as nurses, and other healthcare workers are used to a certain group of people, making it challenging to handle individuals with varying cultures and races. Furthermore, the organization’s culture must focus on equality throughout service delivery. This will give the nurses a sense of responsibility when delivering services to various groups of individuals. The health facility lacks strict policy formulation regarding racial discrimination. Such laws prevent discrimination against black women by nurses and other caregivers in health facilities.
References
National Partnership for Women & Families. (2018). Black Women’s Maternal Health: A Multifaceted Approach to Addressing Persistent and Dire Health Disparities (pp. 1-8). Web.
Schwartz, M. (2015). Ethical Decision-Making Theory: An Integrated Approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 139(4), 755-776.