Is it me, or...?

[herewegoagain7]

Before an African American coworker of mine quit, she told me I should complete a year and leave the hospital because the people in power are racists. I didn't think anything of it, at first. I was a new graduate three months in.

I'm probably going to receive heat over this thread. All you have is my word that I am not a bigot.

There is a strong Filipino presence on my unit. The favoritism among their own has no bounds.

For example:

There is no balance in the assignments, favoring the Filipino nurse. The distributions are unsafe, but ignored.

I reported two Filipino nurses once for trying to conceal an event and was retaliated, against. Yes, there was harm done to the patient. A 3rd Filipino nurse told me "We cover each other, here. If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us."

A (recently promoted) non-Filipino charge nurse was stripped of her CN title because she wasn't Filipino. Apparently, "they" spoke to the director in mass and demonstrated their disapproval. She quit two weeks later, before I was able to ask WHY/WHAT transpired.

I am not the only person who notices, as eight nurses have left. All new graduates and non-Filipino. I have been here about a year, now. My two week notice is in the works. I live in Northern California and only hope my new work environment is different. Had to get this off my chest.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

My comment probably goes against the general grain, but there are instances in which favoritism based on racial/ethnic background does occur in the workplace.

Moreover, it can be a difficult pill to swallow when you are one of the coworkers who does not belong to the unofficially favored race/ethnicity.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

i am not going to comment on whether I think it is racism or not. It kind of does not matter. Your relationship with a large group of people on your floor is ineffective. I think in this situation moving on is a good choice. I am sorry you have to. Try not to let it taint your perception of others holding similar physical attributes in your future jobs. I definitely can assure you that it is not a universal thing, though it can appear that way when you experience it within one community.

[greeneyes007]

I'm a year almost into my first hospital job and experiencing a similar issue. I work in a Southern California hospital. About a third of the floor (the non-Filipino folk / veteran and newbie) collaborated in a joint effort to bring the situation to light with the director recently. Things have somewhat changed, but nobody has gotten reprimanded. Such a sad situation. I cannot wait to leave this place.

[Delia37, MSN]

At the end of the day, the unit does not sound like a good fix for you. You had gained some experience; find something else and move on.

[Kj777789]

Oh girl, half the people on here opposing that Filipinos are racist are doing so bc they are Filipino and defensive. Let me tell you, as a travel nurse I've worked in 9 California hospitals. There is a large population of Filipino nurses in California hospitals. They will ban together and cut you down. I've seen it in every hospital and have also heard it talked about. They give each other better assignments and will do anything they can to throw you under the bus. I do not know what other races did to them to deserve this treatment, but if you are a minority on a unit of Filipinos, it's a lost cause. You are also right about if they make nursing errors and are unsafe, they will cover each other. It's so wrong.

[richieanne]

I am sorry to hear about your horrible experience regarding filipino nurses. I do agree though that not all are nice. Even other races do not treat others nicely. That's the sad truth. But one thing I can tell you for sure, they are not lazy. They work their butt off even the most obnoxious ones work hard. That's the nature. Maybe 1% are lazy but 99% work hard... really hard.