Frustration...

[Miss PsychNP]

I have worked hard very hard to become a nurse practitioner. Not only am I a Adult psych certified and Family psych certified NP, I am a FNP, DNP and was a clinical social worker with a BSW and MSW...so why is it that my prescription is question..."Do you have a DEA?" (Can you not read...it's on the script next to my name!), but I can't say that because I then become the aggressive minority who has an attitude.

I don't like it when my fellow RNs and LPNs say, "Oh, you're a NP?? I don't want to be that. I want to be a PA because you can do more" LIKE WHAT??? What exactly can you do that I can't do? Be supervised by a MD?? Really?? I don't know what the deal is but it is so frustrating to hear these things. I am never one to use race as an excuse because my color will never change. I was brown when I was born and I will die brown. So why do I need to always prove that I really do know that adderall depletes magnesium and can give you horrific legs cramps that typically occur at night when you are extending your legs, or it may thin your hair and make you emotionally labile, and that children who take nasal spray and allergy meds are particularly at risk for emotionally instability including moderate anxiety when taking a stimulant. Even if you may disagree, as a health care professional, you don't not need to call me 'dumb', 'stupid', or a 'disgrace to her race'. I laugh because it is so sad that we as health professionals cannot work together. Case in point, a supposed renowned GI specialist never tested my pt who was having severe GI issues...like a text book case of H. pylori. I had the pt tested and she had active acute H. pylori. I had the records sent directly from the lab to him. He fired my pt then call my office to call me a dumb A**Np who needs to keep her nose in treating the crazies and leave the GI to him. I tried to have him test her. Needless to say she was treated and is doing wonderful but whenever we have the same pts, he tells them to request another provider because I am incompetent. How sad.

I apologize for the rant...I guess not being able to respond to a private message due to the lack of activity just was the icing on the cake so I thought I am going to post about something bothering me.

And for the record every minority who may or may not fit the description of being black or African American benefits from UNCF. I paid for my education and received scholarships for my 3rd masters. My loans were repaid by the NHSC in exchange for working in underserved areas.

[Dr.Naija_Glam]

Oh Miss PsychNP, I do feel your pain. Your post is all over the place, but I get a sense of where this is coming from. I can empathize with you because I have been there. I don't have years of experience like you, but I've learned to stand up for myself. In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."

I've never had any provider talk to me in the way that doc spoke to you. The closest thing I can remember is one of the docs I work with rolling her eyes at me and calling me annoying after asking her to sign off on a note I had written 1 wk prior. I told her there's no need to be unprofessional, I'm just doing my job and I expect you to do yours. After saying that, I walked away. (But I wanted to say $#^&* ain't nobody got time this) She gave me the stink eye for 2 days, but stopped and hasn't said anything rude since.

You don't have to raise your voice to them, just letting it be known that their being inappropriate is enough. If that doc was talking to me like that I would of hung up the phone.

[KariZayBSN]

So...okay...I did read my post and yes...I was all over the place because I was venting. For those of you who thought I was implying the GI doc exchange was a race issue...sorry...I am very aware he just didnt like that I treated something he failed to do and that it had nothing to do with race. However racial issues are very much a part of my professional life. I am 40 so 'been there done that' as far as dealing with ignorant colleagues and doctors. I guess what started this rant was an email and a meeting in which I was asked how white professionals could better address the minority people meaning Haitians, Laotians, Blacks, Mexican, Guatamalians, etc...oh but not those individuals from Egypt, India, Pakistan, Iran or Japan, and maybe some Koreans depending on where they lived. I am one of three minority providers. The other two are from India and Egypt. My emotions were all over the place as I felt angry, confused and astonished at the fact I was actually asked to provide a brief overview as if I was the minority spokesperson. At this meeting a white nurse made the statement, "well she's a mutt but looks black and her people probably dont listen to her either. Plus she was a professional student, you know we paid for her to go to school". Yep she really said that out loud and people actually believed her. So I did have to address the situation as I normally do and when I said *** is not a historically black university and I did not get any grants because my parents supposedly made too much money (psych nurses), they were responded with, "oh". Unfortunately my skin color does invite second guessing. Partly because I work in underserved mostly white farming areas and I know that comes with the territory. My patients are easy to address. I either impress them or they wont ever change their mindset but will accept my recommendations. It is usually the 'professionals' who have the issue but I surround myself with other who can care less about my color and want to help the pts we treat. So again sorry about the conflicting rant but I have too many thoughts to keep in. And finally for the record, I learned in kindergarten the playing the race card is never acceptable in my family....a black/chinese mother and blackfoot indian father. Some of us look black, some not so black but we love every shade in each and every 12 of us. My daughter is all that plus white so I get it. Sometimes just sometimes, I would like to not have to prove anything and just treat. So thanks for all of the comments and patience reading my thread. Next time, I be back to my jovial self. Thanks again.[/quote']

As the well educated professional you are you have a right to be treated with professional courtesy just as you treat your colleagues with the same. Nip the disrespect and unprofessional attitudes in the bud when it occurs and demand to be treated correctly. You can do so quite assertively. There will always be someone projecting their feelings of inadequacy onto you because you represent something they aren't. You hold numerous advanced degrees so you have it on paper that you know your stuff!

At the end of the day, it isn't about them but about the care you give. Continue to be professional while not allowing disrespect. Anyone questioning your right to be there should quickly be reminded, that your DNP and licenses are what justifies you being there. If they don't like it report them to their higher ups and to the board if need be.

This kind of stress will kill you. Try not to allow those that try to diminish you succeed. The "professional" that said you were a mutt should have been checked right there in the meeting. She should have been suspended because that is creating a hostile work environment.

Don't ACCEPT that...minority or not!

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

I personally would have had a screaming match on the phone if I had talked with this jerk. At least send him a letter telling him you saved his butt from sitting in front of a lawyer. Then forget about him.

I am inclined to agree but for one thing: His Royal Highness knows exactly what the deal is. He knows full well he dropped the ball, and the ball was picked up and saved by a "lowly NP."

What a d*ck.

The best docs are the ones that realize that it takes an entire team of eyes and ears--docs, RN's, NP's, PA's, CNA's, and ancillaries. We are in this together.

I'm "just a nurse," but those "just CNA's" or "just techs" have been invaluable to me over the years.

What the hell is wrong with people?

[Guttercat, ASN, RN]

At this meeting a white nurse made the statement, "well she's a mutt but looks black and her people probably dont listen to her either. Plus she was a professional student, you know we paid for her to go to school".

Yep she really said that out loud and people actually believed her.

Oh c'mon. Serious? I don't believe anyone would actually say that (especially the "mutt" comment) in a professional meeting.

On a side note, it can be very difficult for mixed race children--they can't identify with one "group," and no one group fully accepts them as one of their own.

[Miss PsychNP]

To Guttercat...I thought I was hallucinating when she said the statement but she did and yes she was fired. One, it not difficult being mixed race...I'm black...I look black...my experiences is of a black woman and I had one hell of a woman raise me to be strong and never accept race as an excuse. As a child, we could not come home and say, the teacher dont like me because I'm black. My mother would say...ok you're going to be black for the rest of your life...so you have two choices...die now or learn to succeed in spite of the limitations others are going to attempt to place upon you.

Two...the professional meeting...I dont know where you work but I work in a very rural area where supposed professional meetings entail people who dont act very professional. We have a histrionic QA person who is up for suspension for telling a wonderful doctor to go and find his own d*mn code. Everyone was appalled. Then the nurse made her comment about me. I asked her to repeat and she foolishly did. I didnt yell...I politely told her she was incorrect and then MH clinic director called our CEO and Exec Dir to address the issue because everyone...was taken aback. I have never met her she worked in peds and had 27 years exp. We met today and she was fired. She only became apologetic once she realized she was being fired. I had no idea that she was going to be fired.

I love my job and I love my profession. I know there will be idiots who will come at me all kinds of ways, but I do handle myself quite well. My record speaks for itself. I have the highest pt attendance 87% in mental health with child and adolescents is unheard of, but my goal is not to make friends at the job but to deliver the best care possible.

As far the the GI, well...GOD has a great sense of humor. We are slated to interview for GIs on Friday to expand of GI dept. We are looking for a Director too. Wouldnt you know that Dr. Idiot has applied and has made out CEO aware of what he now states was a lapse in good judgment. We are going to have lunch (me, CEO, Exe Dir and Dr. Id) so stay tune!

One final side note...my father's side accepted me as a Blackfoot Indian of Siksika First Nation in Canada. I have dual citizenship and I am an enrolled member and never was questioned about my kinky hair or dark skin. I can swing my feathers on my headdress with the best of them. And my black people in the US, always was accepted. I dont call myself mixed and I dont deny my ethnicity. The only time this is a problem is when someone else has an issue. Life is too short to worry about ignorant people and I believe things come full circle as in my case.