Could this be discrimination?

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Hey All,

I am in my last semester of Nursing school..YAYYY! and it has been a HARD road to get here but now that I'm almost done I'm starting to think about working and applying. I have been a tech on a specialty unit for 5 years now and I love me job and would like to continue working there as a RN. I am a hard worker and I know my unit and it shows because the DON for our unit told me personally to go speak with my new manager of 4 months about what positions they could offer me, well I did this and to my surprise she said I had to wait until AFTER I passed my boards to apply:(. At this point I was shock because 3 of our techs who just graduated from nursing school in May were all offered positions in March and didn't take their boards until June. So I mentioned this to my manager and she said "oh the policy has changed you have to wait now". An because she went on a hiring frenzy we have about 15 new nurses on the unit, so I have to wait until someone quits in order to have a position. Well after our meeting I decided to call HR for our hospital just to ask about the new policy and if it was the entire hospital, I was told she didn't know anything about it and its up to my manager and she could hire me up to 6mths in advance and if I was not already an employee there I could apply up to 2mths in advance.

This entire thing had me in tears, I didn't understand why I have to wait and why she lied to me. FYI I am African American and the other girls where Caucasian. Is this discrimination?? Also we do have about 6 out of 15 African Americans on our unit as Techs but only 2 out 45 +nurses are African American. (Who have been there for 40 + years) And NONE of the new nurses she hired are AA either.

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Well, you stated that there are already 15 new nurses on your unit. And that's not including the 3 techs that have been offered a position after they receive their board results. It just seems like a saturation of nurses more than anything. Sorry that this happened! I can't imagine the frustration. And congratulations on your last semester. I'm sure the time will fly by :)

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Only those doing the hiring can asnwer that question. You are not going to get a honest answer on a public forum. If you feel that your being discriminated against or if the unit has no openings available then start looking else where. I currently work as student nurse at the hospital and plan on applying not just to my unit but to other units within the hospital and even other hospitals. You can't keep all your eggs in one basket. Plus they never gave you an official offer and even when they do the hospital can still revoke that offer due to various reasons.

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Thanks!

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Only those doing the hiring can asnwer that question. You are not going to get a honest answer on a public forum. If you feel that your being discriminated against or if the unit has no openings available then start looking else where. I currently work as student nurse at the hospital and plan on applying not just to my unit but to other units within the hospital and even other hospitals. You can't keep all your eggs in one basket. Plus they never gave you an official offer and even when they do the hospital can still revoke that offer due to various reasons.

I understand that and I am going to start applying else where; I was just going off what my DON said about me having a guaranteed position. But the manager that's under her saying I have to wait until someone quits

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Specializes in Cardiac, Home Health, Primary Care.

If the new manager has only been there 4 months was she the one who hired these new nurses? And she is not saying you cannot have a position...just that you must wait until you pass boards. Perhaps they have recently had issues with hiring new nurses and them not passing boards so it's HER new policy.

I don't see how, at this point, it could be considered discrimination at this point. You may just be overthinking it. And, again, even though there is a lack of African American employees on the floor this manager has only been responsible for staffing for the last 4 months.

I am an over thinker as well and look for any possible explanation when I am not chosen for something. As I get older I am getting better at not taking it personally.

Just go with the flow and know you will get a position where ever you are meant to. Sometimes NOT getting positions is a blessing in disguise.

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If the new manager has only been there 4 months was she the one who hired these new nurses? And she is not saying you cannot have a position...just that you must wait until you pass boards. Perhaps they have recently had issues with hiring new nurses and them not passing boards so it's HER new policy.

I don't see how, at this point, it could be considered discrimination at this point. You may just be overthinking it. And, again, even though there is a lack of African American employees on the floor this manager has only been responsible for staffing for the last 4 months.

I am an over thinker as well and look for any possible explanation when I am not chosen for something. As I get older I am getting better at not taking it personally.

Just go with the flow and know you will get a position where ever you are meant to. Sometimes NOT getting positions is a blessing in disguise.

I do over think...I just wanted to be treated like the other techs now nurses when they secured their position 3 months in advance. If my manager would have just been honest and not lie and say its a hospital policy. That just seems shady to me.. And a nursing student im friends with my current manager was her old manger for over 6 years and she also verified that she NEVER hired AA nurses on her previous unit only AA techs.

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Specializes in ER.

I just sent you a PM.

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I understand that and I am going to start applying else where; I was just going off what my DON said about me having a guaranteed position. But the manager that's under her saying I have to wait until someone quits

No such thing as guaranteed position. I giggle when I hear my classmates brag about having guranteed RN position, before they even graduate. Things happen and people change their minds .I have known people who have been offered jobs, perform and pass the requirements only to have the offer to be revoked.

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I do over think...I just wanted to be treated like the other techs now nurses when they secured their position 3 months in advance. If my manager would have just been honest and not lie and say its a hospital policy. That just seems shady to me.. And a nursing student im friends with my current manager was her old manger for over 6 years and she also verified that she NEVER hired AA nurses on her previous unit only AA techs.

Unfortunately life is not fair, if the manager is actually discriminating based on skin color then why would you want to work there?

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No such thing as guaranteed position. I giggle when I hear my classmates brag about having guranteed RN position, before they even graduate. Things happen and people change their minds .I have known people who have been offered jobs, perform and pass the requirements only to have the offer to be revoked.

Oh trust me I know I've seen it happen on my very own unit (different manager though) so I take it with a grain of salt.

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Unfortunately life is not fair, if the manager is actually discriminating based on skin color then why would you want to work there?

Well the reason is I know its tough to get a job as a new grad straight out an on a specialty unit AND on a specialty unit I actually want to make my career. So when I got the job as a tech in the Level II nursery and LOVED it, I worked hard stood out from the rest of the techs just so I can continue my passion of nursing in field I dreamed of. Just this new manager is the a negative.

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