Introduction
Many factors must be considered when caring for patients. This approach to care offers an opportunity to deliver the most patient-centered care and increase individuals’ satisfaction. Among the most critical factors in the provision of health services are a person’s differences in age, culture, race, gender, and living situation. Each of them has a critical contribution not only to the process of assisting but also to communication, which requires consideration and analysis. In addition, age bias can be a problem, affecting providers’ attitudes towards individuals, and requires a training plan to spread knowledge and awareness in the community.
Factors Impacting Comfort of Nurses in Communication with Patients
The first factor affecting my comfort as a nurse when communicating with patients is age. Hence, depending on this indicator, individuals use different ways of exchanging information. This aspect implies the use of slang or informal communication. On the other hand, older patients take a more formal approach when receiving medical services. Moreover, the patient’s age also depends on how well they convey their feelings and symptoms of a health problem.
Culture is also critical to communication, as it is one of the most important determinants of individuals’ perceptions of the world around them. This background is reflected in such aspects of interaction as non-verbal communication: eye contact, gestures, and touch. Moreover, in some cultures, there is a norm against sharing excessive information about a person, which can be a significant obstacle for a nurse. The problem may also arise if a disease is considered insignificant in one culture, leading it to be overlooked.
In the context of race, the main factor that influences my comfort is the issue of discrimination in society. Research stated that “when Black and Latino patients interact with health providers, they exhibit less patient-centered communication with them compared to White patients, such as using a harsher tone or providing less time for patients to ask questions; often as a result of implicit racial bias” (Mitchell & Perry, 2020, p. 3). Thus, a lack of awareness and cultural sensitivity can undermine nurses’ comfort, leading to problems such as stereotyping, stigmatization, and bias.
It is also worth noting that such a factor as gender can also cause bias and disruption of communication between me as a healthcare provider and the patient. This aspect may manifest as a lack of knowledge about how genders perceive pain and the communication features they may use on this topic. Moreover, many patients prefer to be served by staff of their gender, which can also cause some issues, especially with a limited number of employees. Last but not least, the crucial factor is the patients’ living situation. It makes a significant contribution to communication between individuals and medical professionals, as low socioeconomic status can limit access to health services. Because of this, they are widely misrepresented in the field, and nurses may not have experience interacting with them.
Treatment of Older Adults in the Family, Culture, Community, and Society
While growing up, I increasingly noticed that older adults were treated differently within families, cultures, communities, and society. I believe this is because older individuals are considered wiser and more experienced, and are treated with greater respect. In other words, age plays a leading role in shaping people’s interactions with areas of their lives such as family, culture, community, and society.
A prominent example is that adults (e.g., 60+) often receive more lenient and respectful treatment across all areas of society. Both in the family and in culture and community, these individuals are consistently awarded the most positive treatment; they are often consulted, carefully listened to, and follow their instructions. This age group can be compared with children up to about 5-7 years old. Often, they are also treated condescendingly; they are cared for rather than expected to do any hard work because of their physical characteristics. The main difference between children and older people in this context is the ability to communicate with others.
On the other hand, adults aged 20 to 55 often play a key role in society, culture, and family. This is because this age is most active in areas such as development, personality formation, and the formation of attitudes and worldviews. Thus, unlike older adults, these individuals are given more responsibility because of their capabilities.
Aging Bias’s Impact on Nursing Practice
Age-related biases are among the most difficult to limit. This is because, like values and worldview, these aspects can be embedded in individuals from an early age, taking root later in life. Throughout my growing up and adult life, I have encountered numerous examples of age-based biases that have contributed significantly to my current nursing practice.
Negligence
First, it is worth noting that aging bias or ageism has significant psychological consequences for older people. Research showed that “these consequences consist of increased depression and mental health disorders, determined sense of self-worth, low self-confidence, a heightened sense of powerlessness, and suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts” (Rababa et al., 2020, p. 2). Unfortunately, I had to learn from my own experience to face this example, because of neglect on the part of medical professionals, my grandmother eventually lost faith in the field of healthcare. In other words, because her worries were often dismissed as made up because of her age, she lost confidence in her ability to identify what was wrong with her. Because of this incident, we had to go around several doctors before Grandma regained confidence in the medical staff.
In addition, I have witnessed a case in which the judgments and conclusions of medical professionals were influenced by the stereotype that older adults are cognitively impaired. It is pretty close to my grandmother’s case, as it also illustrated an instance in which an individual was denied assistance due to a lack of evidence of a health problem. The clinic staff decided that the person has issues with cognitive functions due to his age and cannot make clear conclusions about his well-being. This case has had a tremendous impact on my practice as a nurse, as I believe that this kind of action is unacceptable. In this case, it was necessary to check the patient’s claims, even if they seemed strange or unfounded.
Communication Gap
Another example of age-related bias may be the communication gap between older adults and medical professionals. This prevalence is quite common and requires special attention from nurses. An example of such a case is the commitment of these patients to omit all their symptoms or to consider some of them as insignificant. The problem with poses is that at this age, individuals often refuse such measures as hospitalization, justifying them as excessive and unnecessary. Further, the difficulty in communicating with older people stems from the fact that they may lack the knowledge to understand certain aspects of treatment. This can become a significant barrier, especially when advising patients about self-medication and the recommendations they should follow.
Community Education Plan to Address Biases of Older Adults
Based on the research on the role of patient age in medical care, every specialist and member of the community should have this knowledge to ensure the highest quality of healthcare. An educational initiative to spread awareness and information is helpful in this regard. Thus, there is a need to develop a community education plan to help reduce bias against older adults.
The main criterion for creating a learning plan for the community is to develop an approach suitable for multiple age groups. This aspect will provide an opportunity to reduce the number of people who use age bias as quickly and effectively as possible. To further increase the plan’s productivity, it is necessary to assess the extent of the problem in the community. Thus, it is possible to determine the intensity of training and the central interventions to be used.
As part of the community education plan to address bias against older people, it is necessary to involve a range of stakeholders. First, there should be medical specialists with reasonably extensive experience working with this group. The involvement of these individuals will provide an opportunity to achieve the most excellent credibility and reliability for the proposed plan. Healthcare workers can conduct various educational classes in which they will share their work experience and provide practical methods that have helped them cope with their own biases. In addition, it is worth noting that various community centers that disseminate healthcare knowledge can also serve as valuable stakeholders. This partnership will have a positive impact on the exchange of experiences between organizations and on the involvement of the largest number of individuals.
To reach the largest possible target audience, the community plan can be distributed to educational institutions. This can be implemented through collaborations with schools or by inviting specialists to share stories, present facts about aging, and discuss the impact of biases on older adults. The importance and value of this aspect lie in the fact that people should know the specifics of relationships with people of different ages from an early age, as well as the biases and personal judgments they may encounter later. Moreover, the spread of awareness in the early stages of personality development will contribute to a more effective limitation of the problem under discussion in the future. In other words, the sooner individuals gain knowledge and understanding of the problem, the less likely it is that age bias or ageism will flourish in society.
Conclusion
In conclusion, studies of factors such as age, culture, race, gender, and living situation have shown that many aspects can affect nurses’ comfort. At the same time, patient age is a significant factor in the occurrence of age bias. To reduce the risk of this problem, it is necessary to develop a community plan that facilitates the dissemination of knowledge about it.
References
Mitchell, J. A., & Perry, R. (2020). Disparities in patient-centered communication for Black and Latino men in the US: Cross-sectional results from the 2010 health and retirement study. PLoS One, 15(9).
Rababa, M., Hammouri, A. M., Hweidi, I. M., & Ellis, J. L. (2020). Association of nurses’ level of knowledge and attitudes to ageism toward older adults: Cross‐sectional study. Nursing & Health Sciences, 22(3), 593-601.