Collaborative Governance: Diversity Steering Committee

"promoting excellence every day"

DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Overview | Responsibilities | CG Diversity Champions | 2010 Goals & Accomplishments | 2011 Goals

Collaborative Governance
Committees

Diversity

Patient Education

Ethics in Clinical Practice

Informatics

Policy, Procedure & Products

Practice & Quality Oversight Subcommittees

Research & Evidence-based

Staff Nurse Advisory

Current work:

Carmen Vega-Barachowitz, SLP presented on “relationship based care: cultural sensitivity and awareness”. Patients from different cultures have different ways of communicating, behaving, interpreting and problem-solving.
Disease refers to the malfunctioning of the physiological and/or psychological processes in an individual. Illness refers to the psychosocial experience and meaning of the perceived disease for the individual and those associated with the individual.
As health care providers, we need to learn about the patient’s perspective on their illness and while treating their disease, also address their concerns about their illness.
We can start to educate and spread the word amongst our colleagues by sharing anecdotes and narratives.

2012 Goals Development and compilation of tools and resources to assist staff in engaging in menaingful interactions with patients, families and colleagues. Initiate a "Got Diversity" campaign with the goal to stimulate discussion, provide information that clinicians can take to the bedside and enhance communication and collaboration among staff.

Meets:
1st and 3rd Tuesday monthly
12-1pm
Founders 311
Conference Room

Committee Contacts:

Co-Chairs
Anabela Nunes
Manager,
Interpreter Services

Michele Andrews
Human Resources
Staffing Specialist

Coach
Maureen Schnider, MS, RN, CPHQ
Director
Central Resources

Advisor
Carmen Vega-Barachowitz, Director, Speech, Language, Swallowing and Reading Disabilities

CG Diversity Champions

DIVERSITY STEERING COMMITTEE OVERVIEW

The Patient Care Services Diversity Steering Committee is committed to supporting and developing strategies which transform our work setting into a more inclusive and welcoming environment for staff, patients, and families alike. The committee’s work includes professional development, student outreach, programs centered on culturally competent care and input into the development of patient education material specifically designed for use by clinicians who care for a diverse patient population. This is a multidisciplinary committee which works closely with the PCS Office of Diversity. return to top

Responsibilities:

Enhance professional development.
Promote culturally competent care and staff education.
Prepare patient education materials.
Student outreach.
Develop a community, sensitive to each person as a human to be treated with dignity and respect.
Create a climate of inclusion in activities throughout the system.
Engage in joint projects with other Collaborative Governance committees.
Align the work of the committee with PCS strategic goals. return to top

2010 Goals & Accomplishments

Goal: Educate the community about the stigma of illness (mental illness, cognitive disabilities, patient size)
Accomplishments: Sponsored a Down Syndrome and Cognitive Disabilities Symposium. The event included several keynote speakers and a parent panel. The goal was to provide additional skill sets and bring awareness to all to become more sensitive and supportive of Down Syndrome patients and their caretakers.

Goal: Continue with yearly celebrations
Accomplishments: Celebrations were held for:

Hajj

African Pinning Ceremony

St. Patrick’s Day

Passover and Easter

Ramadan

Iftar

Yom Kippur

Holidays around the world

Goal: Sponsor a mentorship program for incoming nurses
Accomplishments: Some members of the committee are mentors to undergraduates in the new University of Massachusetts (UMass) College of Nursing & Health Sciences/Partners HealthCare Clinical Leadership Collaborative for Diversity in Nursing (CLC) mentorship program. This program pairs a minority nursing student from UMass with a nurse from any background to provide guidance throughout the student's participation in the program and/or academic experience.

Goal: Continue to create visibility of diversity
Accomplishments:

Continued to foster awareness around the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,Transgender (LGBT) community with discussions, speakers and educational offerings.

Committee members participated in the Gay Pride parade for which the hospital received great feedback from the GLBT community.

Goal: Looking at bias and how it affects the teamwork in multicultural staff. Can we work comfortably with staff of different ethnicity, gender, beliefs, and cultures? How do we handle patients' and/or families’ bias toward staff?
Accomplishments:

Enriched discussion about patients’ and/ or their families’ bias against staff based on staff’s gender, ethnicity, language, religion, or culture. Some committee members shared their experience of what is perceived as abuse from patients and/or patients’ families. Some committee members also discussed bias they experienced from some professional colleagues, including medical staff.

Discussed future goal setting regarding a document that will let patients and families know that abuse of staff will not be tolerated.

Discussed actions that can be considered within the staff that express their bias against other staff.

Goal: Collaborate with other Collaborative Governance Committees
Accomplishments: Collaborated with the PCS Ethics Committee on a project exploring the role of ethnicity and culture on healthcare beliefs and provision of care. return to top