Hello, everyone out there in the world of allnurses.com I just need to get something that's been bothering me for a while off of my chest. I just want to talk about this issue especially affecting minority nurses. And that issue is that it can be hard to be a nurse of color.
I am part Somoan/part African-American and consider myself Black for the most part. Well, I just feel that after all these years, minority nurses still don't get as much respect as their white colleagues.
Always being mistaken for for support staff even though my name tag boldly states who I am and my credentials. And I even feel that sometimes, patients feel insulted by me being their nurse. It seems like that when I first go into the patient's room, before I can introduce myself properly, they always assume I am a CNA. After I explain that I am their nurse, they seem to loose that "glow". It's like they don't want ME to be their nurse. And when a previous nurse that happens to be white reports how pleasant a patient was, I don't get that "pleasant" behavior from the same patient.
We as nurses know that patients can often be demanding, rude, and downright ridiculous with any nurse. But, to the minority nurses out there, do you sometimes feel that you are being treated with less respect because your a minority? Do you feel like you get treated differently from the other nurses by the same patient?
As a CNA working in a LTC facility, I have encountered some things that only God can understand. Because I am a light skinned African American woman, some of the older female residents will say you are a pretty colored girl. I don't take offense because I am not trying to change someone in their 90's whose grown up like this and has this mentality stuck in their mind. Just recently I was assigned to a resident who is bedridden. She has a princess mentality and thinks that everything is to be done according to the way she sees fit. So a Caucasian aide answered her light while I was helping someone else. Later it was time for her to go to bed so I came in and cheerfully said "I'm ready to help you get cleaned up for bed". She said where's the other aide. I said she is not your aide she just answered your light I'm your aide and I'm here to help you if you're ready. She started arguing with me and decided she didn't want to go to bed at all. So I reported it to the charge nurse who came in to try to talk to her. Of course the charge nurse catered to her and had the other aide and me switch residents.
Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.
I have been discriminated against because I am fat and homely. I have also had patients assume I'm everything (housekeeping, cafeteria worker, tech, etc) other than a nurse. I admit, I dress kind of raddy and look very humble and the OB nurse who took care of me when I had my baby asked if I was a "tech" when I mentioned I understood the stress of working in the health care field after she apologized for being out of the room for so long.
Then she looked taken back when I mentioned I was an RN.
I have had patients in home health refuse to have me back. I never got an exact answer as to why but I guess it is because of the way I look.
Even in my personal relationships I am discriminated against. My husband doesn't find me attractive, he never has. He doesn't want me in any pictures, he doesn't even want me to have his last name. I'm a reject to him, but four kids later what is the point in kicking him to the curb now?
I understand how it could feel to be discriminated against because of who you are. My family is very colorful: my husband is Italian and while my kids all look different my oldest son is the most ethnic-looking-dark hair and eyes and dark complected. A couple of weeks ago he mentioned that the only kids who would play with him were the Mexican kids, everyone thinks he is Mexican and the white kids play separate. I say, to he!! with those other kids. I have a neice and nephew who are 1/2 black and a niece and nephew who are 1/2 hispanic and I care for them every bit as much as I care for my white nieces and nephews. In fact, when I think of them their color doesn't factor in at all.
MM, you are beautiful to us. And it sounds like your husband has really done a number on your self esteem. :angryfire Don't ever let someone make you feel that way about yourself. People are only ugly on the inside, and that you are not.
And as an Italian American myself, I can identify with being mistaken for Hispanic, but it's usually from Hispanics.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I'm a black female nurse at a LTCF and, yes, I've experienced subtle discrimination at the workplace from patients and their family members.
Some family members mistakenly assume I'm a CNA or housekeeper, and honestly think I'm in the patient room to give a bath.
Recently, I was working with an Eastern European female CNA. The male carpet cleaner (a contract worker) and this CNA were down the hall chatting and conversing. A few minutes later, he walks to the nurses station to tell me, "The lady in room 101 needs to go to the bathroom." The white CNA overheard him saying this, and she interrupts, "Oh, that's my job. I would have done that."
That's enough for me. I'm fully aware that racial threads don't last too long on this website, because we all fail to agree on things.
Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, Emergency, SAFE.
So...Relax...Prejudice is not just toward "your kind"...It can be against us ALL. Male/Female/Black/White/Native/Hispanic/ectectect...
No one said that it was against just "our kind"...
Im sure you didnt mean it, but this just goes to show that you truly dont understand what the thread was started for...(IMHO)
Its meant to be unifying/consoling/informative for ALL who have been discriminated againt, but telling someone to RELAX is an insult..no one CAN relax when theyre are still bigots and prejudice people around (once again, IMHO)
Nursing to me a very humbling profession. You get and go to work to take of others; a job that not many people could do. Being discriminated against on the basis of your race, or anything else is unfortunate. What makes it even worse is that when you find yourself the only person of color at your job, you don't get much support from your co-workers either. I once had a patient question my credentials, and then tell me the didn't want a (insert racial slur here) touching them. I immediately went to my charge nurse and nm about this. The assignment was switched, but later I was told how nice this particular pt was, and that perhaps he was just in a bad mood, and asked did I smile and introduce myself when I went in the room. I felt so insulted! I couldn't even hold back my tears. The lack of sensitivity and support from co-workers makes racial bias even worse. I was told by a good friend/ mentor that nurses are people too, and unfortunately somehave the same issues. I could go on with a few examples to prove that point as well but I won't. I know not everyone is like that. Luckily, I relocated to a more diverse area. I'm sorry I'm rambling, but no one should have to deal with sort of thing at work or anywhere else.
Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Another pet peeve of mine - I absolutely hate when elderly Caucasian patients refer to me as "girl" or "little gal." I'm a 26 year old woman for Christ's sake!!! I don't look like a "little girl," either, so I suspect it's being done subtly to question my womanhood.
Another pet peeve of mine - I absolutely hate when elderly Caucasian patients refer to me as "girl" or "little gal." I'm a 26 year old woman for Christ's sake!!! I don't look like a "little girl," either, so I suspect it's being done subtly to question my womanhood.
it's no different when an elderly person of color, calls me "child".
more important, in the absence of caucasian/color, it's all relative.
i'm sure you are just a "girl", to someone who is 95.
Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Motorcyclemama; I am saddened to hear that your husband has treated you this way. I am sure it is hard on you, and I sincerely pray that a gentleman that truly appreciates you for who YOU are inside and enables you to drop your hubby like a bad habit. ((hugs to you))
Hello there. I've been a nurse for 16 years now. I received my BSN at 21 so I was very young when I entered this field. I've encountered all that you have mentioned and more; I've been called the 'N' word right to my face by a patient(she used the word so much in her everyday conversation, she slipped), I've had physicians walk out of the room after seeing me stand there and ask who's the nurse for the patient, and I've been floated to areas and had other nurses assume that I'm the CNA or the tech.
The only thing that I can tell you that as I've grown older, these types of things happen a lot less, perhaps it has something to do with your demeanor, a growing maturity in the profession and your self-confidence. I don't know, I'm just throwing darts here. Also it seems to bother me less, I can't let stupid people be my problem.
Motorcyclemama; I am saddened to hear that your husband has treated you this way. I am sure it is hard on you, and I sincerely pray that a gentleman that truly appreciates you for who YOU are inside and enables you to drop your hubby like a bad habit. ((hugs to you))
No one will appreciate her unless she appreciates herself first, she doesn't need another man to do it for her. LET HIM GO! 4 kids or not, life is too short for that garbage, it's time you learn that motorcyclemama. If he thinks he can do so much better than you, why doesn't he? Ask yourself that, I'm betting that you are the one holding all the cards you just don't know it.
dorselm
211 Posts
As a CNA working in a LTC facility, I have encountered some things that only God can understand. Because I am a light skinned African American woman, some of the older female residents will say you are a pretty colored girl. I don't take offense because I am not trying to change someone in their 90's whose grown up like this and has this mentality stuck in their mind. Just recently I was assigned to a resident who is bedridden. She has a princess mentality and thinks that everything is to be done according to the way she sees fit. So a Caucasian aide answered her light while I was helping someone else. Later it was time for her to go to bed so I came in and cheerfully said "I'm ready to help you get cleaned up for bed". She said where's the other aide. I said she is not your aide she just answered your light I'm your aide and I'm here to help you if you're ready. She started arguing with me and decided she didn't want to go to bed at all. So I reported it to the charge nurse who came in to try to talk to her. Of course the charge nurse catered to her and had the other aide and me switch residents.