Introduction and Identification of the Underlying Issue
The United States was founded in a place where immigrants can come and practice freedom of religion, speech and find safe harbor. However, there has always existed a prejudice against minority groups in the US for many reasons, which explains why many modern leaders harvest racism and xenophobia. An example of how these issues affect the US occurred in 2014 when Dr. Phil Gingrey (2014) wrote a letter to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the immigration crisis. This person insisted that illegal immigrants, especially children, were responsible for bringing swine flu, Ebola virus, and others to the United States. Simultaneously, journalist Linda Poon (2014) relies on credible sources in her article “The Immigrant Kids Have Health Issues – But Not the Ones You’d Think” to refute Dr. Gingrey’s argument. This article demonstrates that Dr. Gingrey gives false information that can cause fear because he has some hidden agendas. The discussion between the two people focuses on xenophobia in the US healthcare industry, and this paper will explain how conservatism and liberalism, two polarizing ideologies, address this underlying issue.
Examining Immigration Policy from the Lens of Conservatives and Liberals
As has been mentioned above, conservatism and liberalism are two polarizing ideologies that are prevalent in the United States. The difference between the two is found in the fact that conservatism promotes traditional social values and institutions, while liberalism typically advocates for personal freedom, liberty, and equality. These ideologies are present in many life spheres and can guide people’s thoughts and decisions. The study by Hasson et al. (2018) reveals that the difference is that liberals are more sympathetic and willing to help others compared to conservatives. Consequently, it is possible to suppose that the two ideologies have conflicting opinions regarding immigration policies, and the following paragraph will introduce a specific example to comment on it.
There is an opinion that crime is closely associated with immigration, and the rationale is that many people come to the US, where they face numerous challenges. As a result, it is believed that many newcomers can engage in criminal behaviors to make their living (Bernat, 2019). That is why it is reasonable to consider how the two ideologies address this suggestion. Wright et al. (2017) use a national dataset and stipulate that “liberals self-report more criminal conduct than do conservatives” (p. 236). Simultaneously, evidence from other credible sources is necessary to identify how liberals and conservatives identify a connection between immigration and crime. Bernat (2019) offers the results of a national random telephone survey to reveal that conservatives are more likely to believe that undocumented migrants are a criminal threat. Simultaneously, there was found a robust relationship between the conservative ideology and the support of immigration enforcement law (Bernat, 2019). The evidence above allows for stating that conservatives oppose immigration since they consider it a source of crime, while liberals welcome this phenomenon since they do not note this connection.
Nursing Position
Since the information above has demonstrated that there are different attitudes toward immigration and related crime rates, it is reasonable to explain my personal position on the topic. I share the liberal values as I believe that person’s race and ethnicity are not the primary predictors of whether people will be involved in criminal behavior. A mixture of multiple features, including education, income level, mental health status, and others, can make an individual a criminal. That is why I am sure that it is not reasonable to impose stricter immigration restrictions. The United States has always welcomed freedom, equality, and justice. Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that discriminatory attitudes toward minorities will not create barriers to achieving these values, and my position contributes to this fact.
Furthermore, it is rational to comment on what effect the underlying issue can have on nursing professional practice. Xenophobia is adverse in all its manifestations, and the healthcare industry is not an exception. For example, Le et al. (2020) clarify that Asian Americans often face health disparities, and this situation has become worse against the COVID-19 pandemic’s background. The researchers claim that these migrants “may be most adversely affected in the current climate” (Le et al., 2020, p. 1371). Simultaneously, Suleman et al. (2018) admit that this adverse phenomenon can result in negative consequences for individuals and whole communities. Findings from these two studies reveal that xenophobia can adversely affect professional nursing practice. It can occur if healthcare professionals do not provide adequate care to patients based on their ethnicities.
It is also possible to rely on ethical principles from The Nursing Code of Ethics to support my chosen position. Firstly, Provision 1.1 Respect for Human Dignity implies that “the right to health care is universal, transcending all individual differences” (American Nurses Association, 2014, p. 11). Secondly, it is mentioned in Provision 1.2 Relationships with Patients that nurses should provide care to all patients without any bias or prejudice (American Nurses Association, 2014). These principles reveal that xenophobia should not be present in the healthcare industry.
Nurses can actualize ethics, advocacy, and policy development in many ways, and my professional practice supports this claim. I have worked in many hospitals and multiple operating rooms, and this experience has made me familiar with possible discriminatory issues. As a rule, the working environment was free of any prejudice, but some exceptions occurred. For example, it happened when some of the team members expressed racist attitudes toward immigrant patients. In such cases, I followed the recommendation by Fitzgerald et al. (2016), who state that nurses should not be guilty bystanders and remain silent in such cases. It denotes that the course has taught me to defend the correct point of view. Consequently, one can suppose that encouraging nurses’ involvement in ethical and political issues is an efficient action.
Summary and Call to Action
The paper has demonstrated that immigration is a significant phenomenon in the United States, and xenophobia is one of its underlying issues. Since it essentially affects society, various ideologies, namely conservatism and liberalism, address it differently. For example, conservatism focuses on traditional rules and states that stricter immigration restrictions are needed. Simultaneously, liberalism emphasizes personal freedoms and highlights that no people should face racism, discrimination, and xenophobia. This theoretical information reveals that I share liberal values since my professional practice is free from any prejudice, and I also try not to be a guilty bystander when witnessing injustice.
In conclusion, the specific Call to Action should be proposed to make the nursing profession more ethical, and an efficient step is to teach nurses not to be guilty bystanders. It is of significance to ensure that healthcare professionals have sufficient mental resources to defend their points of view and eliminate prejudice from practice. If achieved, this step will result in the fact that the medical industry will be better, ethical, and equal for everyone irrespective of their individual peculiarities.
References
American Nurses Association. (2014). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Web.
Bernat, F. (2019). Immigration and crime. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Web.
Fitzgerald, E. M., Myers, J. G.,& Clark, P. (2016). Nurses need not be guilty bystanders: Caring for vulnerable immigrant populations. The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 22(1).
Gingrey, J. P. (2014). Letter to Thomas R. Frieden, Director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Hassan, Y., Tamir, M., Brahms, K. S., Cohrs, J. C., & Halperin, E. (2018). Are liberals and conservatives equally motivated to feel empathy toward others? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44(10), 1449-1469. Web.
Le, T. K., Cha, L., Han, H.-R., & Tseng, W. (2020). Anti-Asian xenophobia and Asian American COVID-19 disparities. American Journal of Public Health, 110(9), 1371-1373.
Poon, L. (2014). The immigrant kids have health issues: But not the ones you’d think. National Public Radio.
Suleman, S., Garber, K. D., & Rutkow, L. (2018). Xenophobia as a determinant of health: An integrative review. Journal of Public Health Policy, 39, 407-423. Web.
Wright, J. P., Beaver, K. M., Morgan, M. A., & Connolly, E. J. (2017). Political ideology predicts involvement in crime. Personality and Individual Differences, 106, 236-241. Web.