How is it being a minority nurse?... Female RNs Q&A

TweetiePieRN · Sep 15, 2005

1.In what ways was your educational experience more difficult or easier as a minority student?

2.What do you see as the barriers for minority nurses in our profession?

3.What do you see as the opportunities for minority nurses in our profession?

4.What do you view as the value of increasing diversity in the nursing profession for health care?

5.What do you think we can do as a profession and personally to increase diversity in nursing?

I'm Portuguese. I've been an RN for 1 year and a few months. I work in a hospital setting in the Oncology Dept.

1. I believe that my educational experience has been neither easier nor harder than the majority. My parents were poor, I was the first to go to college...(by my own merits and not due to some affirmative action process.) I believe that no matter your "minority vs majority" status, YOU are totally responsible for your own actions and decisions. I decided I didn't want to be poor, so I got good grades and moved on to college. I had MANY hardships going thru school (none are relevant to being a minority), but I persevered just like anyone probably could.

2. Call me crazy, but the only REAL barrier I see is oneself. You can either grow up with a chip on your shoulder because you are "different" and expect handouts or stand up tall and be proud of who you are and get your goals met in any way possible (legally, of course). Our society has gotten so weak! Everyone gets offended easily and feelings get hurt so easily. I am sure that I have been discriminated against in some, way, shape, or form. But, the bottom line is: I could have been my own barrier if I would have let those things get to me and tear me down.

3. They have all the opportunity they allow themselves to have. It is not a requirement to be the majority to get into school and make your life better. It is not a requirement to be part of the majority to get into nursing. Sure, there may be perceived roadblocks to getting to your goal, but in most cases it is doable.

4. Again, call me crazy! Regarding diversity: I feel that if we call all this attention to our differences more than our similarities we are only breeding divisiveness!! If we label people and put us into little categories (or tell someone they are a minority) its like a self-fulfilled prophecy! If you tell someone they aren't expected to succeed in life because they are a minority, they probably won't succeed.

5. Why force an increase in diversity? There is shortage of all nurses...not just minority ones. The first thing is to get more people in general interested in nursing as a whole. To answer your question though, maybe schools in which it has a high amount of minority students, should have a career day. A nurse should come speak to them about this wonderful career. No more focusing on race (or other minority categories). Honestly, this only breeds intolerance and then the groups do not get along and actually resent each other. I live in Northern California. From the outside it looks like we all live in harmony because we celebrate our differences. It seems to have the opposite effect out here when you actually live here. Is it like that for you down in SoCal?

Hope this helps. I know you will get many different view points on this topic.

Euskadi1946 · Sep 15, 2005

I don't think you're crazy at all. I'm Hispanic/Native American and I never let my race/nationality get in the way of achieving my goals. I achieved them later in life but everyone has their time set aside to achieve whatever they want. My parents brought us up to believe that we could be anything we want, we just have to work hard to achieve it. I became a parent at 40 and an RN at 46, two of my biggest goals have been met.

TweetiePieRN · Sep 15, 2005

I don't think you're crazy at all. I'm Hispanic/Native American and I never let my race/nationality get in the way of achieving my goals. I achieved them later in life but everyone has their time set aside to achieve whatever they want. My parents brought us up to believe that we could be anything we want, we just have to work hard to achieve it. I became a parent at 40 and an RN at 46, two of my biggest goals have been met.

I'm glad to see someone else understands where I am coming from! Sometimes in our politically correct world its easy to focus on what you can see (race) rather than what we cant see (desire or drive to succeed!). Congrats on following thru with your goals!! :)

Corvette Guy · Sep 15, 2005

Hi everyone! I'm a first semester student nurse at Long Beach State Univ and I'm conducting a survey for an assignment in my Nursing Communications class.
Can you please :wink2: help me out?
It's just questions regarding your experiences as a minority RN and how we can increase diversity in the nursing profession.
I'm a male nursing student and I have to interview a Registered Nurse from a minority group different from my own. So sorry guys, I know men are a minority in nursing, but only the ladies can participate in this survey.
So if you're a female Registered Nurse of any minority group, please mention...
-How many years you've been an RN?
-Hospital/clinic/facility you currently work at?
-What area of nursing do you specialize in (eg. peds, ICU...)?
-Your ethnic background?
... And can you please answer these next five questions...
1.In what ways was your educational experience more difficult or easier as a minority student?
2.What do you see as the barriers for minority nurses in our profession?
3.What do you see as the opportunities for minority nurses in our profession?
4.What do you view as the value of increasing diversity in the nursing profession for health care?
5.What do you think we can do as a profession and personally to increase diversity in nursing?
Thank you so much for helping me out with this assignment. I really appreciate it. Ok, I got to get back to studying.
Do what you Love,
Love what you Do,
SurfCityNurse

Yes, men are a minority in nursing. One way to increase diversity in the RN profession is by recruiting more male nurses! It is ashame that only females can participate in your survey. :angryfire

TweetiePieRN · Sep 15, 2005

Yes, men are a minority in nursing. One way to increase diversity in the RN profession is by recruiting more male nurses! It is ashame that only females can participate in your survey. :angryfire

The OP is a male, Cary. Part of what the OP said in his post was "So sorry guys, I know men are a minority in nursing..." Perhaps interviewing a female is part of his required assignment. A male nurse of any minority group other than white is in a "double minority" group. Maybe his assignment calls for just one variable of being a minority.

control · Sep 16, 2005

Hi everyone! I'm a first semester student nurse at Long Beach State Univ and I'm conducting a survey for an assignment in my Nursing Communications class.
Can you please :wink2: help me out?
It's just questions regarding your experiences as a minority RN and how we can increase diversity in the nursing profession.
I'm a male nursing student and I have to interview a Registered Nurse from a minority group different from my own. So sorry guys, I know men are a minority in nursing, but only the ladies can participate in this survey.
So if you're a female Registered Nurse of any minority group, please mention...
-How many years you've been an RN? 3.25
-Hospital/clinic/facility you currently work at? Private company contracted with the state of LA
-What area of nursing do you specialize in (eg. peds, ICU...)? none, i'm a generalist, but I consider physical rehab and psych to be my specialties I guess.
-Your ethnic background? a mix of several ethnicities, but i just check black. saves me from questions most of the time.
... And can you please answer these next five questions...
1.In what ways was your educational experience more difficult or easier as a minority student?
More difficult: favoritism/doting on non-minority students even though the class was mostly non-minority.
Easier: HBCU program, first two years were pretty diverse though. nice mix of lots of ethnicities.
2.What do you see as the barriers for minority nurses in our profession?
some doctors (i've noticed) tend to ignore/disrespect/disregard the opinions of minority nurses alot quicker than a non-minority nurse, same with coworkers and management even.
3.What do you see as the opportunities for minority nurses in our profession?
feeling/becoming a part of a professional organization and collaboration with generally like minded (in caring) people.
4.What do you view as the value of increasing diversity in the nursing profession for health care?
broadened experiences for everyone, increased tolerance for those of different ethnicities
5.What do you think we can do as a profession and personally to increase diversity in nursing?
denounce stereotypes as much as possible, practice what we preach, be genuinely friendly.