Sandeep Athwal

1. Introduction:
Provide an overview of key elements
Whether it be in ones personal life or professional life, we are surrounded by
people that come from foreign cultures and who see the world through their
own individual lenses. In order to help the reader understand some of the
diverse ways that people might see their world, the book serves as a great
resource full of insight into ten lenses in the following order: Assimilationist,
Colorblind, Culturalcentrist, Elitist, Integrationist, Meritocratist,
Multiculturalist, Seclusionist, Transcendent, and Victim/Caretaker.
2. Description of Lenses and Significant Lenses:
Assimilationist is a person who thinks that immigrants and subcultures
should adopt the lifestyle, beliefs, values, customs, and language of the
dominant culture.
Colorblind is a person that believes that all men and women are equal and
that race and culture should not make us inferior or superior.
Culturalcentrist is a person that seeks to accentuate his or her identity and
history in order to improve the welfare of their cultural group. They think that
cultures should preserve their culture instead of trying to become a part of
the dominant culture.
Elitist is a person who wants to maintain high standards and will challenge
the system and its leaders to do so. This person believes that he or she has a
sense of responsibility to take care of the less fortunate. This person has a
sense of nobility and might come from a family of wealth.
Integrationist is a person who believes that cultural barriers should be
broken down and that by getting knowledge about others we can eliminate
ignorance. They believe that we can achieve harmony and equality by
working together, socializing, and living side by side.
Meritocratist is a person that thinks that opportunity should be based upon
an individuals competence and accomplishments. That success is earned,
not based on culture.
Multiculturalist is a person who believes that our success depends on
allowing each culture to contribute to the dominant culture and that the
acceptance of diversity is important.
Seclusionist is a person who thinks that in order to preserve ones position
or power, it is best to keep ones race separate from other racial groups.
Transcendent is a person that believes that human value or identity is not
dependent on racial, national, ethnic, or cultural category. That our shared
humanity is what connects all of us.
Victim/Caretaker is a person who fulfills the role of the victim and the
caretaker at the same time. As the victim, the person is the one who is the
object of actions while as the caretaker, the person is the one who makes up
for the injustice. This person believes that his or her culture or ethnicity is the
reason why injustice or negative events occur. The victim believes that bias
exists and waits for this belief to be proven incorrect while the caretaker
believes that it is his or her responsibility to help those who are helpless and
are targets of incivility.

Sandeep Athwal

How it will help you in your clinical practice to know our lenses?
In the clinical field, nurses not only interact with patients who have unique
viewpoints, but also doctors, respiratory therapists, charge nurses,
supervisors, and other nurses who go about their day using their own set of
unique lenses. In order to be a better team player, we need to investigate our
own views while also exploring other views so that we can grow to make
room for other perspectives in the workplace. In other words, by knowing that
any person who walks into our unit might have their own view of the world,
we will improve on being able to adapt, respect, and be in harmony with
others while still keeping our own believes. Sometimes, a situation might
come up when we might not have to completely strip away our lens, but we
might have to temporarily look through someone elses lens to understand
foreign perspectives better.
Which is your Lenses? Victim/Caretaker
3. Conclusion/Summary:
Summarize your essay
With such a diverse population of people in the nursing field, personal
perspectives can influence the way we view, treat, and react to people
around us. By finding out about other vision lenses in the world, we can be
better prepared to deal with situations that involve opposite views or cultures
so that we do not think only our way of thinking is correct and so we can
accommodate others into our space with harmony.