Health disparity refers to the variation that occurs among the particular groups of people regarding obtaining total health potential that can be measured by differences in prevalence, mortality, and incidence, and the adverse health conditions. This paper discusses the causes of racial and income-based health disparities, as well as how nurses can curb the issues.
Causes
Health disparity based on race and ethnicity is promoted by both the patients and health practitioners. Patient preference is considered a potential reason as it tends to prefer particular services to others (Gollust et al., 2018). For the professional, language barrier, and bias while treating specific races also contribute to the disparity. Regarding the income-based health disparity, it is caused by the inequality in income distribution across the population (Khazan, 2017). In the United States, minorities tend to earn less than majorities; thus, the difference in health care services.
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Nurse
As health practitioners, nurses can eliminate both disparities from the American healthcare system. Practicing care and equality is one of the best ways to reduce the impact of the differences in healthcare facilities. Technically, nurses are required to serve all their patients with exceptional care irrespective of race or income level. Care helps nurses to perform their duties wholeheartedly and to enhance their wellbeing regardless of the differences among the patients. Additionally, developing effective communication can help alienate the issue of racial disparity and ensure that all citizens are served with equality. The use of a universal language between practitioners and their customers can be useful in ensuring that racial factors are not considered when delivering the services.
Conclusion
Health disparity hinders equality in the United States, healthcare practitioners such as nurses and doctors contribute to the growing gap in income and race. Being caring and fair in service provision can enhance equality and contribute to eliminating health disparity.
References
Gollust, S. E., Cunningham, B. A., Bokhour, B. G., Gordon, H. S., Pope, C., Saha, S. S., ... & Burgess, D. J. (2018). What causes racial health care disparities? A mixed-methods study reveals variability in how health care providers perceive causal attributions. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing , 55 , 0046958018762840.
Khazan, O. (2017, June 5 th ). America's Health-Inequality Problem. The Atlanta. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/06/america-has-the-third-worst-level-of-health-inequality-in-the-world/529158/
