Sunset Studying

A brief introduction to who I am: I'm Nicole Owens. I'm a radiology and mammo tech. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job. I work full time, plus usually overtime if available. I am married and have five children. Yes. Five. That's not a typo. Four boys and one girl. My husband and I are busy, to say the least. There are days where I question just about every decision I've ever made (including the decision to go back to school!). And other days where I wouldn't change a thing. In addition to the chaos that is five kids, we also have two dogs and a cat and a fish. If there was any question as to whether or not I'm sane, there's your answer. I'm not. Would any sane full time working mother of five, with two dogs and cat go back to school to finish her bachelors?? No. Only crazy people do that kind of thing! I have a very deep and profound love of learning. And 10 years into my career as a rad/mammo tech I found myself yearning for something more. I look into...

If you ever want to know where you lack in cultural competency, I highly recommend taking the Providers Guide to Quality and Culture Quiz.  Here I thought I was on the right track but it turns out I have a lot of room to grow. Which is a good thing. Because it only means I'll be more of an asset and an ally to those who need it most.  Based on my results of the quiz, and upon reviewing the course competencies I have set three learning goals for myself.  1. Keep the patient cultural views in mind FIRST . * Often I approach a difference on my terms first (dominant culture), and then adjust from there. I think an approach that takes into an account of the patients cultural terms first, would be more beneficial. Once I know more about their cultural outlook on the exam, I can do a better job of changing my techniques to serve them. 2. Do more independent study and observing of other cultures. *I am a white suburban mom. I know very little about other cultures, unfort...

The phrase "single story" actually sounds kind of dreamy and romanticized. Until you realize what it is and that we've all been influenced by and fell victim to it. A pronounced experience for me personally with this is the single story of 9/11. The tragic events of that day were an atrocity that none of us alive during that time, will ever be able to forget. Most of us were glued to our TV's watching all of events and war, to follow, unfold. The single story we were all told was this was the work of Muslim people. They hate white people. They hate America. They are monsters. This is the single story that was fed to us from almost every avenue. And many of us bought it (and still buy into) hook, line, and sinker. Because, when you're not exposed to any other kind of Muslim and when you have network after network telling you one specific thing, in addition to your politicians and your clergy all saying "Muslim's are violent and evil" and you have no...

Providing patient care is the most complicated for me when I know the patient is non-compliant, or when the illness is self inflicted due to negligence. It is hard to do my job and do it well, when I know that the patient is either unappreciative or suspicious about what I'm doing anyway. As I've been in health care for longer and longer I've gotten more proficient at not letting this bother me.  I do my job to the best of my ability regardless of who I'm taking care of. That is not always easy - and in some instances it's downright frustrating. Some examples are: I often x-ray diabetic patient's feet post amputation. Often these patients are over weight and have knows for an extended length of time that they need to get their glucose levels in check. It's hard for me show a lot of compassion for these patients. I absolutely have compassion for them, but it doesn't come as easily - knowing that their health problems are often a byprodu...

The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) is the governing body for certification and licensure for radiologic technologists. Within their governing body there are a specific Standard of Ethics that we must follow while practicing. Article three of the ARRT Standards of Ethics states that the radiologic technologist should deliver care that is unrestricted by concerns of the patient's attributes, color, illness, religion, origin, gender, marital status, disability, orientation, veteran status, age or any other legally protected bias. 1 The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Health and Health Care have a similar statement written in their code. One that states workers should provide effective, equal, respectful care that is cohesive to diverse cultures, beliefs, practices, language, literacy and other communication needs. 2 . By comparison these are similar articles. Both state that regardless of the patients o...

Many health care organizations implement multi-cultural training programs. These are implemented in order to provide higher quality and comprehensive health care to these individuals. Because the United States is becoming more diverse all the time, cultural competency and diversity training is essential in healthcare.  1 The trainings are aimed at increasing sensitivity and empathy within diverse patient populations. This can be done with several different models.The most widely used is the Cross Model, which uses six stages of awareness/competency.  1 This model doesn't emphasize stereotypes of minority groups, but raises awareness of the cultural differences as it pertains to healthcare disparities. In other words, the "why". The reasoning behind why there are disparities and why there may be a lack of utilization of health care services/treatment. It is respect based and is rooted in advocacy.  1   If these types of trainings...

P roper diversity/cross-cultural training should bring about a degree of empathy. How we view and what we expect from our patients directly effects the way we treat them and thus effects the kind of care we give them. By learning about different cultures, languages and religions, we can better understand how our patients view their health care. This will then give us an idea about their health-seeking behavior. So when a particular patient is non-compliant, it may not be that they are "lazy" or that they don't care. It may be some type of conflict or contradiction with their own specific culture, socio-economic situation, mental health, or religion. Overall there are large health disparities across cultures. In order to close those health disparities we need healthcare providers to come to the table with empathy, knowledge, understanding, and a skillset that is tailored to working with people from various backgrounds. That is the only way we can provide competent and un...

If we lived in a perfect world - there would be no preconceived notions. No stereotypes or racism. No bigotry or hate. However, this is not the case. Especially in America. The effect of these issues is reflected in the facts regarding the health disparities that our nation faces. These disparities are deeply rooted in our history. A history that has taken the individuals heritage and used it against them. Heritage has become the weapon that our nation has chosen as its Hail Mary. More so than even their skin color, which as we know, also has a very deep dark history for us. Heritage encompasses so much more, than race. It's religion, it's orientation, it's origin, it's language, it's our DNA, it's our culture, it's what has happened to our ancestors and what has been told to us going forward of those experiences. In the book "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Anne Fadiman, The Lee family works to navigate the American health care s...