Do You judge and treat patients differently depending on who they are ?

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The reason I asked this question is because we had an inservice at my job and they told us in so many ways nurses can show prejudices towards patients based on this. Does this happen with us not knowing what we are doing. Can you assume you know about a person based on their name ? Is this ethical ?

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...nurses can show prejudices towards patients based on this. Does this happen with us not knowing what we are doing. Can you assume you know about a person based on their name ? Is this ethical ?

These are really rhetorical questions because yes, it does happen without us knowing it sometimes; that's human nature. No, we can't assume we know a person based on their name, obviously. And C, of course it's not ethical.

Best we can do is be aware of it so we might not repeat a mistake, if we had made any to start with.

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Like most people here, I have taken care of pts ranging from child murderers to big-shot VIP's.

You try very very hard to be even-steven with the care, but it can be challenge.

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I'm going to come out and admit I judge people. We're all lying if we deny it. It becomes a problem if our judgements cloud the care we give, IMO.

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I'm going to come out and admit I judge people. We're all lying if we deny it. It becomes a problem if our judgements cloud the care we give, IMO.

That's a refreshingly honest answer!

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Specializes in Peds/outpatient FP,derm,allergy/private duty.

Well, we can't exactly turn our minds off, can we? It's a bit too much to expect. Nothing wrong with being sensitive to the potential sensitivities of others, but I wouldn't let that fear loom so large in my mind I'd be trying to do my job while simultaneously running a critique of my every sound and gesture. I'd be paralyzed by anxiety.

I run a pretty thorough attitude check on myself, and have a well-practiced non-emotive expression (was going to say "poker face" but feared it would be misunderstood) so I think I'm good. We all inadvertently step in it at some point, though. :o

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Specializes in Forensic Psych.

It's human nature. We're really cool mammals that can process a crazy amount of stimuli incredibly quickly to make decisions, but one of the downsides to that is our need to "group.".

From a purely logical standpoint, does it make sense to form a bias against all Muslims because of 9/11? No. From an ethical standpoint is it ok? No. But our primal need there is to feel safe, not to be altruistic and loving, so we may form broad definitions and avoid or attack everyone in them to protect ourselves.

The same goes for every other kind of prejudice you could think of. Right? No. Expected. Yes.

Fortunately, we're more than our predispositions and we have the ability to look at our beliefs and treatment of others and modify our thinking and behavior. So in some ways, it's good to be human :)

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
The reason I asked this question is because we had an inservice at my job and they told us in so many ways nurses can show prejudices towards patients based on this. Does this happen with us not knowing what we are doing. Can you assume you know about a person based on their name ? Is this ethical ?

YUP, we all judge. Some of us are more overt about it, and others of us have the self-check better in hand. And we all have those times when we're more judgmental/less sensitive than others.

It's not just nurses who judge -- a police detective once told me that if he sees a pack of kids misbehaving, he tends to assume that the kid named "La - A" or "Don-Tay" is more apt to be the instigator than a kid named "Linda" or "Donald." "Kids whose parents named them regular names are more apt to have parents who set good examples for them and raised them with boundaries." He's seen it over and over again.

I try very hard not to enter a patient room with preconceived notions, but I'll admit than when a patient with the last name of Gomez tells me that after fifty years in this country they still don't speak English, or a patient with the last name like Kennedy (just picking these names out of thin air) tells me they require special favors, a part of my brain goes "Uh huh. Knew it." Not a very nice part of my brain, but then I'll admit I'm not always as nice as I could be.

So yes, you can assume based on last name. And sometimes you'd be right; more often you'd be wrong. What matters more is how you act upon the assumption or not. And no, it isn't ethical. But we're all human, and no human is perfect.

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Specializes in Emergency/Cath Lab.
I'm going to come out and admit I judge people. We're all lying if we deny it. It becomes a problem if our judgements cloud the care we give, IMO.

I'm there with you. It is hard not to judge someone when you get the scanner report that they plowed through numerous barriers, then struck a car. Or the parents that come in with 5 kids that obviously dont know how to take care of one. You judge. Everyone does. Your care cant reflect it though at all. THAT is the hard part.

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You are an awesome person ! To bad everyone is not like that.

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I'm going to come out and admit I judge people. We're all lying if we deny it. It becomes a problem if our judgements cloud the care we give, IMO.

I absolutely agree. I was just waiting for someone to say that no, they don't judge. Like it or not, everyone does. They may never admit it in a million years but they do.

I am one of the most open-minded people I know but there are still times when I am judging someone in my head. I try not to, but it happens.

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Specializes in Transitional Nursing.

I just roll my eyes at them hoping I get in trouble for abuse. Because apparently that's the eighth form didn't ya know?

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