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Diversity Project Kickoff Presentation
Learner’s Name
Capella University
Collaboration, Communication, and Case Analysis for Master’s Learners
Diversity Project Kickoff Presentation
December, 2019
Hello, and welcome to the kickoff presentation for the new project initiated by Mercy Medical Center to create a diverse and inclusive workplace. This kickoff presentation aims to provide details about the need for a diverse and inclusive workplace at Mercy Medical Center, the objectives of the diversity and inclusion project, and the committee executing the project.
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Presentation Outline
Need for a Diversity Project
Objectives of the Diversity Project
Composition of the Workforce Diversity Steering Committee
Role of the Committee
Developing Interprofessional Collaboration
Characteristics of a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
Benefits of a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace: Examples From the Field
Here is an outline of the presentation. We will begin by understanding the need for a diversity project. We will then look at the objectives of the diversity project. Next, we will discuss the composition of the team involved in this project, along with the characteristics the team must possess to successfully implement this project. We will then look at the various strategies that will help promote interprofessional group collaboration. Finally, we will look at the characteristics and benefits of a diverse and inclusive workplace.
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Need for a Diversity Project
Diversity is a sign of cultural respect
Diverse medical centers promote access to high-quality health care for minority populations
Diverse workforce puts patients at ease (Edmund, Bezold, Fulwood, Johnson, & Tetteh, 2015)
Diversity projects will set a course to ensure compliance with workplace diversity laws
Based on a recent internal survey, leadership at Mercy Medical Center realised that close to 67% of staff felt that it was underrepresented. Further, when members of the leadership analysed the patient satisfaction scores of the last 3 years, they found that the scores had dropped and that this was influenced by a lack of representation of the diverse patient base. A diverse and an inclusive workplace is a sign of cultural respect. It also portrays that the medical center is respectful and responsive toward the requirements of diverse patient populations. Health care centers need to be diverse and inclusive to promote an environment that influences positive health outcomes. A culturally diverse workforce represents people from all walks of life, which puts patients at ease. It is important to consider the needs of patients to make health care accessible. This can be done by addressing the diversity in the patient base the medical center serves. Patients may belong to different cultural backgrounds, have different sexual orientations, or face language barriers. A diverse workforce would help patients relate to the hospital staff, thereby ensuring better health outcomes (Edmund et al., 2015). The need for a diverse workplace was also recognized by the Government of the United States when the Department of Health and Human Services initiated the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) to eliminate health care disparities by ensuring that all cultural and language barriers are addressed (Edmund et al., 2015). Mercy Medical Center has realised the need for a project that addresses the issue of diversity and inclusion in the hospital and has, therefore, initiated the Diversity Project.
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Objectives of the Diversity Project
Creating a Workforce Diversity Steering Committee
Sensitizing members of the committee to the requirements of workplace diversity
Establishing processes for encouraging interprofessional collaboration
Here are the objectives of the diversity project. Mercy Medical Center will establish a Workforce Diversity Steering Committee. This committee will consist of members with different ethnic, racial, and cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, and language preferences. The members of the committee will also ensure gender diversity in the committee. The second objective of the project is to sensitize the committee to existing gaps in the center’s diversity and inclusion practices. This will help the committee prepare an agenda that will be appropriate and feasible for the medical center. Once the committee is ready to execute its plan of action, the next objective of the project would be to establish a process to encourage interprofessional collaboration in the medical center. Interprofessional collaboration would lead to effective communication and the exchange of expertise, which would enhance the center’s productivity.
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Composition of the Workforce Diversity Steering Committee
Decision-making wing
Leadership (CEO, CFO, COO, etc.)
Heads of departments
Chief of Medicines
Chief of Surgeons
Chief of Residents
Head of Nursing Staff
Executive wing
Doctors
Nurses
Administrative staff
The Workforce Diversity Steering Committee, created to address the ongoing diversity issue at Mercy Medical Center, will have two wings: the decision-making wing and the executive wing. The decision-making wing will comprise members of the board such as the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Operations Officer. The decision-making wing will also be made up of the heads of all the departments at Mercy Medical Center, the Chief of Surgeons, the Chief of Residents, the Chief of Medicine, and the Head of Nursing Staff. The executive wing will comprise representatives from hospital staff such as doctors, nurses, and administrative staff. Sixty percent of the members of the committee will be women. The structure of the committee is such that 54% of the committee will be composed of people from different ethnicities such as Hispanics, Asian Americans, African Americans, and Latin Americans. The committee will not display data regarding the sexual orientation of committee members, as this is a matter of personal discretion. The committee will comprise people from different age groups. Approximately 50% of the team will be people under the age of 30, 30% will be people between the ages 31 and 60, and 20% of will be people over the age of 60.
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Role of the Committee
Representation during recruitment
Training and sensitization on the requirements of a diverse organization
Constant communication with hospital staff
Identification and addressal of disparities due to lack of diversity
Clear communication of organizational goals
Adherence to standards set by CLAS (Edmund et al., 2015)
The most important role of the Workforce Diversity Steering Committee is to ensure that the medical center’s staff respects diversity in terms of age, gender, sexuality, culture, and language so that patients feel comfortable with the medical team . While recruiting staff members, it is essential that they possess certain characteristics such as sensitivity to the needs of people from different religious backgrounds and ethnicities. Addressing language and cultural differences will ensure that there is no miscommunication between patients and staff. Further, addressing issues related to diversity of age, gender, and sexuality ensures accessibility to health care without hesitation. The committee will meet on a bimonthly basis to ensure that all project objectives are on track without any deviation. This meeting will also be required to ensure that there is no miscommunication. Potential staff also needs to be evaluated for qualities such as empathy and the ability to treat patients without any kind of bias. The committee will also train and sensitize new staff members, along with the existing staff, on the requirements of a diverse patient base. These requirements could be the specific needs of different genders or individuals with different sexual orientations or awareness of specific religious restrictions. Staff will also be trained to manage patients who are differently abled. Training staff will also help them identify and remove their biases so that they can better connect with patients. To understand the extent to which diversity issues have impacted the center, the committee will identify disparities due to the absence of a proper diversity committee. This will be done through thorough reporting and documentation of diversity-related issues faced by patients along with extensive collection of data pertaining to demographic diversities. The committee will also be responsible for maintaining awareness about the importance of diversity and inclusion at workplaces to ensure the achievement of organizational goals . The committee will also ensure adherence to the standards of equity and cultural responsiveness set by CLAS (Edmund et al., 2015)
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Developing Interprofessional Collaboration
Setting common goals
Establishing communication structures
Conducing team-building exercises
Rewarding efforts (Morley & Cashell, 2017)
A diverse and inclusive medical center requires interprofessional collaboration . To ensure successful interprofessional collaboration, the committee must first set common goals for all staff members. This will help establish a uniform direction toward which everyone has to work to achieve organizational goals. The next step will be to establish a strong structure of communication. This will help reduce barriers in the flow of the right information. Communication will also enable staff members to share their experiences. This exchange of information will be helpful when the medical staff encounter similar situations because it provides practical insights into how a situation can be handled. This can lead to greater patient satisfaction. The committee will promote team building through training, workshops, and discussions that will help staff members from different teams collaborate to treat a patient. These team-building exercises help improve communication through informal channels, thereby building trust and confidence in the expertise of fellow staff members. Rewarding efforts to collaborate and comply with the diversity principles set by CLAS and the committee will encourage staff members to respect differences. Rewarding collaboration will encourage staff members to collaborate further (Morley & Cashell, 2017).
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Characteristics of a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace
Representation of a diverse population
Clearly communicated objectives
Interprofessional collaboration
Promotion of continuous learning (Morley & Cashell, 2017)
The most evident characteristic of a diverse and inclusive workplace is the representation of a diverse population, both as employees and as clients, within the organization. This also reflects acceptance and respect for differences. Another characteristic of a diverse and inclusive organization is that all goals are clearly communicated to ensure that all members of the workplace work in tandem and that there is no deviation from the goals of diversity and inclusion. This is essential for achieving positive health outcomes and greater customer satisfaction. In a diverse workplace, individuals from different areas of specialization exchange experiences and expertise to attain a common goal. A diverse workplace also promotes continuous learning in the form of team-building exercises, discussions, training for sensitization, and so on. Training conducted on a frequent basis or brainstorming sessions conducted to arrive at a solution help upskill staff. The need to be aware of a diverse patient base encourages continuous learning (Morley & Cashell, 2017).
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Benefits of a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace: Examples from the Field
CHRISTUS Health
Main Line Health
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (Health Research & Educational Trust, 2015)
CHRISTUS Health, a multistate hospital, initiated an organization-wide commitment to diversity and inclusion in 2011. The focus was on fighting any kind of unconscious bias, sensitizing staff to generational differences, and ensuring training to promote development for all employees. This helped increase diversity in leadership from 13% to 23%. The hospital also realized the importance of a reliable infrastructure for understanding demographic diversity. This initiative led to an increase in satisfaction for staff as they felt more represented than before. Main Line Health, a Philadelphia-based not-for-profit organization, cultivated a culture of diversity and inclusion to increase access to health care. This was done by increasing diversity among board members, thereby addressing barriers to health care faced by a diverse patient. This initiative led to the creation of the Medical Student Advocate program, which helped more than 300 patients and their social needs. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, based out of Central New Jersey, implemented its first diversity and inclusion program in 2012. The program focused on including women, African Americans, Asian Americans, and the LGBT community in leadership roles in the hospital. A survey conducted in 2014 revealed that the employee satisfaction had increased in 2 years by 30% (Health Research & Educational Trust, 2015).
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References
Edmund, M., Bezold, C., Fulwood, C. C., Johnson, B., & Tetteh, H. (2015). The future of diversity and inclusion in health services and policy research: A report on the academyhealth workforce diversity 2025 roundtable. Retrieved from
Health Research & Educational Trust. (2015, July). Diversity in health care: Examples from the field. Retrieved from
Morley, L., & Cashell, A. (2017). Collaboration in health care. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences, 48(2), 207–216.
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