I was wondering how to deal with a sitution in which a pt or family expresses a racist or discriminatory view. I've had this happen a few times. The other day a family member was complaining to me about the transport service (this was not related to the hospital, he knew this and was just blowing off steam) and he made a point to negitively comment on the color of the driver. He continued on so I ignored the comment, although I was very uncomfortable. But I have had pts or family in the past say very bad comments about a race, religion or political stand and just expect me to agree. This is not just a issue of not agreeing with a pt/family, how do I not feed into such unpleasant conversation without creating an uncomfortable atmosphere?:uhoh21:
Example: Pt/family says " You know how those (fill in with race/religion)can be. You know what I mean?
We had a elderly africian american woman a while back that requested white nurses. She was very demanding. VERY demanding. And hateful, cussed the nurses, ect.
She told our tech one day, who is africian american, that she hated white peoplebecause of how she had been treated as a child, and she was going to give us as much trouble as she could.
It was quite a sticky situations, as she was there for rehab and an extended stay. We just tried to make sure if possible, her nurse was the same race as her. And prayed for her d/c
One of my colleagues had a patient recently whose family requested a chaplain to come see the pt and speak with the relatives. The pt was not doing very well at the time. The nurse contacted the chaplain and he came up fairly quickly. The family requested that a "white" chaplain instead because the man that came up was "black" and they preferred somebody else. Obviously the nurse and the chaplain were both upset but they handled the situation professionally. Word got around to the doctors and nurses that take care of this pt and family that they are racist (in additon to be being very needy and demanding.) It was my turn to take care of this pt recently. Turns out she has recovered and ready to go home. However, I myself have noticed that this pt has referred to one of the PCTs on the floor as "that little black girl." I wonder if a African American nurse was assigned to them if they would refuse him/her as well....
However, I myself have noticed that this pt has referred to one of the PCTs on the floor as "that little black girl." I wonder if a African American nurse was assigned to them if they would refuse him/her as well....
Do we work together? I swear just last week we had patient that continued to call the tech "that little black girl", but knew the name of every white person that entered the room. I just keep giving her the "look" and stating "her name is _______."
once upon a long time ago, i was the don of a snf in a southern state. a white patient and his family demanded to see me so that they could get the patient a different roomate. they were offended at having to share a room with a "person of color" although that was far from the term used. :angryfirethey were sure a sweet little blond like me would understand.
once i left the room and calmed down, i decided to honor their "request". i moved the original patient into our only available male room--with a white roomate who was a demented screamer with sundowner's and incontinent with a vile bout of diarrhea.
We had a elderly africian american woman a while back that requested white nurses. She was very demanding. VERY demanding. And hateful, cussed the nurses, ect.
She told our tech one day, who is africian american, that she hated white peoplebecause of how she had been treated as a child, and she was going to give us as much trouble as she could.
It was quite a sticky situations, as she was there for rehab and an extended stay. We just tried to make sure if possible, her nurse was the same race as her. And prayed for her d/c
I'm sorry this might irritate some people but her treating the "white" nurses in a nasty way was just as ignorant as the people who treated her in a nasty way during her childhood.
Specializes in Education, Acute, Med/Surg, Tele, etc.
Oh heck...one time that really floored me...a male patient (at this point color has nothing to do with it as you will see) cursed me out when he found out I had a husband and child!
He was screaming at me that my husband should be ashamed of himself for 'prostituting' his wife by having me be a nurse! That men fantisize about nurses (okay scary dude...I don't EVEN want to know what you are 'thinking' about to have the fact I am married and have a child turned you off so!). That wives should be at home tending their families and that is the only job they should ever have (this man was in his late 60's about four years ago when this happened).
Then he ripped me a new one about my appearance with short hair and wearing pants instead of the nurses uniform (okay...again back to the whole fantasy deal I didn't want to even know about...), and brought it back about my husband not having the '*alls' to tell me no and make me a woman not a prostitute by serving men!
This guy was not demented or any medical reason for this outburst (and I was not the first) it was actually what he very LOUDLY thought!
I was chewed out for about 10 minutes, which was a long time as I tried to escape...and I was at my witts end trying to be nice. I finally gave up and said "regarless Sir, I expect a smile on your face...one of gratitude and thankfullness when I save you from the eventual heart attack you will suffer due to high blood pressure which is an obvious condition of yours in talking to anyone like that at length and as red faced and sweaty as you are! And save you I will...because this little 'prostitute' as you so called me numberous times is the only MEDIC in this facility...and I haven't lost one yet!". And walked out!
I had no further issues with that patient EVER again! Guess he needed someone that would stick up for themselves in order to value them??? Who knows...but I will tell you I made him call me from that day forward by "Nurse ____(my last name)" instead of my first name which was the custom of the facility and everyone else could! It was even written in his care plan after I talked to management about the even...yes even telling them exactly what I said...I was not found to be in the wrong for sticking up for myself in this case at this facility! I also told his MD because this...to me...was a change in mental status for this patient (for all I knew) and may have been suffereing from depression or other conditions....
It is amazing that someone even thinks of these racist/sexual/age related complaints!!!!!!! I have better things to do with my time...and felt others do too....LOL
once upon a long time ago, i was the don of a snf in a southern state. a white patient and his family demanded to see me so that they could get the patient a different roomate. they were offended at having to share a room with a "person of color" although that was far from the term used. :angryfirethey were sure a sweet little blond like me would understand.
once i left the room and calmed down, i decided to honor their "request". i moved the original patient into our only available male room--with a white roomate who was a demented screamer with sundowner's and incontinent with a vile bout of diarrhea.
just smiled and let them enjoy!!!
they can't complain either because you were honoring their request.
Specializes in Nurse Manager, Med-Surg, Instructor.
Avoid any conversation at work dealing with religion or politics. Whether it be with co workers , pts or families. Remain as neutral as possible with no comment is the best way to go. Race can be very sensitive to say the least. I simply ignore the comments and keep things work focused.
I don't agree with that....I've had some very good discussions with my patients about religion and politics through the years but I never put up with racist or anti-semitic comments. I'll ask them, "do you think that the race or the religion of the individual really had something to do with your situation? I don't." That often ends the conversation by making them feel uncomfortable.
I work in home care nursing and when we talk about the values of religion or politics, for example, how your place of worship does fundraising or what a candidate stands for, I've found that the vast majority of my patients will state their opinion and then we'll move on to their blood pressure or their wound care. I keep things positive.
I recall once having an elderly white woman and her daughter come up to the floor from the ER. The daughter was upset when she found out that her mother had been assigned to an African-American PCT. The daughter's comments to the nurse were "I'll make things very difficult for him (PCT) if I don't have a white girl taking care of my mother." Need less to say as the only PCT on staff for that shift matching that description I had to pick up the pt. I wonder what she seriously could have done to her original PCT, though.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Do we work together? I swear just last week we had patient that continued to call the tech "that little black girl", but knew the name of every white person that entered the room. I just keep giving her the "look" and stating "her name is _______."
Every time some elderly patient has barked at me, "Get on over here, little girl!", I've replied by saying, "My name is XXXXXX and I'm a woman."
This usually shuts them up, and swiftly nips the antisocial behavior in the bud.
jessiern, BSN, RN
611 Posts
We had a elderly africian american woman a while back that requested white nurses. She was very demanding. VERY demanding. And hateful, cussed the nurses, ect.
She told our tech one day, who is africian american, that she hated white peoplebecause of how she had been treated as a child, and she was going to give us as much trouble as she could.
It was quite a sticky situations, as she was there for rehab and an extended stay. We just tried to make sure if possible, her nurse was the same race as her. And prayed for her d/c