Health Equity Essay (Essay Sample)

Health Equity Essay Student’s Name Institutional Affiliations Health Equity Essay The health disparities observed among racial and ethnic groups in the United States are attributed to a lack of fair allocation of resources among these groups when compared with the whites. According to Evans (2020), health inequity is the cause of geographical variations in mortality rates and health outcomes in the United States. Insights gained from course modules enable nursing students to understand the health equity concept and the need to address them. Nurse leaders play a vital role in addressing health inequities by implementing strategies that promote success. Insights Gained The Institute for Health Improvement (IHI) learning modules on health equity present insights that today’s nurses need to understand as they prepare to promote population health. An important insight that emerged from the IHI modules on health equity is that health inequalities commonly occur among minority groups in the United States. These groups experience unfair and unjust social situations that impact negatively on their health. In the video, Dr. Williams indicates that minority groups in the United States receive poor quality and less intensive care when compared with their white counterparts (Institute for Health Improvement, 2022). The United States government can promote health equity by removing the unfair and unjust social situations that minority groups are currently facing. Understanding the health equity concept is useful as it helps nurses to identify health disparities in the United States that require immediate action. Health disparities in the country occur in terms of place or geographical location, socio-economic status, income levels, educational standards, social status, occupational standards, race, and ethnicity. According to Dr. Williams, such disparities are unacceptable in a country guided by the values that advocate for equal opportunities for all (Institute for Health Improvement, 2022). For example, the disparity in breast cancer observed between African American women and white women tells the degree of severity by which health disparities are affecting the health of minority groups in the United States. Younger African women get more aggressive forms of breast cancer than the white women where breast cancer is believed to be a post-menopausal condition. Dr. Williams indicates that 265 black people die every day in the United States because of racial disparities (Institute for Health Improvement, 2022). These people would not die if there were no racial inequities in health. Therefore, addressing health inequities is one of the ways to improve health outcomes and keep mortality rates low. The Role of Nursing Leadership Nursing leadership plays a crucial role in promoting health equity in nursing practice. For instance, nurse leaders are responsible for ensuring that patients receive quality healthcare services irrespective of their cultural backgrounds. They can achieve this by training nurses to demonstrate cultural competence whenever they are handling patients (Azar, 2021). As Azar (2021) explains, nurse leaders can perform multiple roles to support the government to promote health equity for all. For example, they can serve as scientists, educators, advocates, and innovators as they work with other stakeholders to eliminate health inequities. As scientists, nurse leaders engage in research to investigate differences in health that might exist across populations with their associated factors. The government can use this data to identify areas or populations that need more health resources than others. As advocates, nurse leaders support the development and implementation of policies that aim to address health disparities. As innovators, they can invent innovative strategies to promote health equity (Azar, 2021). Most importantly, nurse leaders play a role in educating the government, their colleagues, other nurses, and the community about the importance of addressing health inequities. Strategies to Promote Health Equity Strategies to promote health equity should seek to eliminate avoidable differences among diverse groups in the United States by promoting the fair distribution of government resources. According to Gomez et al. (2021), interventions that help to promote health equity usually target social determinants of health. One of the effective strategies is the expansion of evidence base. Nurses can contribute to the expansion of evidence base by engaging in research to collect data that can help create the true picture of the problem. This data is useful in decision-making during resource allocation (Moore et al., 2022). The other strategy is to use a workforce that mirrors the diversities in a particular community. A diverse workforc...