Week nine blog - Equity and Diversity in the Workplace

Week nine’s lecture focused on equity and diversity in the workplace. Although no interview was supplied, the lecture raised some interesting points. As nurses working in a modern Australia, we can expect to work in a multicultural workforce. Almost one quarter of Australians were born overseas, and over forty per cent have at least one parent born in another country (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2012, ). Added to this we can expect to work alongside nurses of different religious affiliations, nurses from up to four generations, those for whom English is a second language and nurses from both genders. Being able to work as a team without any bias or prejudice is important and it is up to each individual health care worker to become a leader in this issue, ensuring that there is a higher workplace satisfaction among all those who work in the health industry. Health Workforce Australia (2013) has shown that workplace satisfaction has a positive effect on patient care. I believe that this issue will one day be null and void, but that it is up to us in the meantime to lead others in ensuring that no health worker is discriminated against for who they are or what they believe in.