The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate the understanding of the terms Diversity Rights and Equality and how it can be applied to nursing care in British society. This article will ouline why Nurses should have an awareness of patients right ,how Nurses need to be aware of diversity to enhance patient care ,how equality is maintained in nursing care and how nurses can acknoledge rights and equality when meeting the needs of diverse groups.

Diversity is each of us and all of us, individually and collectively. Diversity is everything that makes each of us different and those things about all of us that are similar. Diversity is what we can see and what we cannot see in each of us and all of us,at anytime, anywhere. The University of Kansas medical centre (2007).

The Department of Health (2004) states valuing diversity within the NHS and determines the importance that health professionals recognize, respect and value difference for the benefit of the organization and its patients. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (2002) incorporates the idea of non-judgmental care into its code of professional conduct by maintaining clause 7 of the UKCC Guidelines for Professional Practice (1996, pp25) who instructed “as a registered nurse, midwife or health visitor you are personally accountable for your practice. In the exercise of your professional accountability you must recognize and respect the uniqueness and dignity of each patient and respond to their need of care. Professionals are personally accountable for their actions and omissions, regardless of advice or directions from other professionals.

The only way to ensure that a nurse puts the patient first is by giving patients their rights. British medical association (2002) addresses that Minors have rights under the Human Rights Act just like every one else but, as for everyone else, their rights will have to be interpreted in relation to the rights of other people. This is to say that young patients have often been given an opportunity to consent to whatever medical treatment is offered to them but not to refuse it when it is recommended. Decision about whether to accept or reject medical treatment should ideally be taken by children together with their parents, although competent young people do have the option of seeking and obtaining medical treatment independently. The rights of children and their parents to refuse treatment are limited. Parents are not entitled to refuse treatment that, in the view of the court, it is the child’s best interest to have similarly, a competent young person’s refusal might be overridden in certain circumstances. Without consent, or even against the wishes of the child or parents, emergency treatment may be provided if any delay would lead to death or serious harm. Health professional should consult their lawyers as soon as practicable.

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Nurses should support people from different backgrounds, treating them fairly and protecting them from discrimination. Indeed Walsh 1998 goes as far as suggesting that without comprehensive assessment, nursing care is routinised and impersonal. In order to be comprehensive the assessment should be both systematic and continues. It is important for nurses to develop a culture where patient’s privacy and dignity are respected. Measures need to be taken to promote patient dignity on the wards by redesigning hospital gowns, providing a warning system to indicate when a patient is undergoing intimate care, and to involve patients in all aspect of ...

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