McGinnis SL, Brush BL, Moore J. Cultural similarity, cultural competence, and nurse workforce diversity. West J Nurs Res. 2010;32(7):894-909.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0193945910361727
Proponents of health workforce diversity argue that increasing the number of minority health care providers will enhance cultural similarity between patients and providers as well as the health system’s capacity to provide culturally competent care. Measuring cultural similarity has been difficult, however, given that current benchmarks of workforce diversity categorize health workers by major racial/ethnic classifications rather than by cultural measures. This study examined the use of national racial/ethnic categories in both patient and registered nurse (RN) populations, and subsequently found other, more significant, indicators of cultural similarity.