Looking for fellow black nurses!

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I am looking for other black nurses (actually minority nurses) to communicate and network with. Although I come from an area with a pretty even mix of races in the nursing field there are very few other black nurses, I have dealt with many unique experiences and I would like to hear what others are going through, triumphs, successes, let downs, failures......I have looked everywhere and I can not find any group to fill this need. This is the largest nursing network on the web right now so I know that we are here!

Specializes in Medical-Surgical/Oncology.

Hello, I am a AA new nurse in Socal. Not many black nurses where I work. There are some and they are very smart, caring and funny! Yes, I think we go thru different circumstances and issues in the work place. It would be nice to talk with other AA nurses to get their insight and various things! Please AA nurses keep in touch. You can also send PM and I can send my email. Take care ladies!

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ERIKADAWN I sent you a private message.

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lol. One time I was caring for a pt and the aids kept coming to me and saying your pt wants to see you. I immediately went in her room and she says, oh, well can you hand me that pillow. I do and then leave the room. Then a few minutes later the aid came up to me again and their like Tiffany your pt wants to see you go in there. So I go in there and I say, Hey, can I help you? She goes. Oh, well can you get me a glass of cranberry juice. I fetch her the juice and ask if she needs anything else. And she says no that's all. A few minutes later my supervisior comes up to me and says, Tiffany your pt says that she hasn't seen you since she got to the floor. You know we don't allow that, you've got to get in there right now! I say, well I've been in there! She says, the pt says she hasn't seen you. My supervisior insists on coming in the room with me and she says to the pt hello, this is your nurse! Then she and her family suddenly goes... OOOOOOHHHH! I'm so sorry, I thought you were the aid. I was wondering why you kept coming in and asking if I need anything.

LOL. Sometimes tho being black works for your advantage when the pt is annoying. I've went in the room before with an agitated pt and asked them if they needed help and they said, GET MY NURSE! And I say, let me know when you see her... LOLOL!!!!! so I can't really always complain...

What!!!? Does this mean the nurse can't come in and ask if the patient needs anything? You know, this sends a negative message about nurses, no matter what the ethnicity issues are. :coollook:

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What!!!? Does this mean the nurse can't come in and ask if the patient needs anything? You know, this sends a negative message about nurses, no matter what the ethnicity issues are. :coollook:

thats not the point it is just that as an AA nurse this always happens or they say honey when is the real nurse coming in.... I can see what your saying though.

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Specializes in Psych, LTC, Acute Care.

I am AA and It annoys me very much about the CNA thing. Its was really bad in the nursing home but now that I work in the hospital its not that way. At the beginning of my shift I go into each persons room and introduce myself as the nurse and write my name on the dry erase board. I think some people sterotype AA as CNA but its up to us to communicate to the patient and tell them who we are.

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What!!!? Does this mean the nurse can't come in and ask if the patient needs anything? You know, this sends a negative message about nurses, no matter what the ethnicity issues are. :coollook:

LOL!!!

The problem in this story is NOT that I was doing stuff for her! WOW!

How about the point that my supervisior was ticked at me cuz she thought I was ignoring the patient. Which I clearly wasn't. The pt just had a previous misconception of what her nurse should have looked like!!

I never said anything about going in her room being a problem. I said clearly that I went in her room several times to help her and she ended up telling her supervisior that I was ignoring her, when I had repeatedly been in the room.

smh. u totally missed it....

and as far as aggressive pt's I go in the room. I ask them for help no matter how aggressive and threatening they may be. Can I help it that they expect for their nurse to be blond?! Why should i excalate them any further. With those aggressive types most times they just want to argue anyways, because the don't have any problem telling whoever walks by, they need a drink or a sandwich or whatever.....

lol.

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well to be honest............ the first story was from a telemetry floor and the second story was from an inner city ER. I am 5'3 130 lbs. Sometimes it's scary to go into a room and undress an agitated drunk pt, or heroin addict. Especially those huge guys in and out of prison that everytime they start yelling security starts calling for backup because they know how rough he can get... it's a hard job, I know I have to do it, but I'm not going to lie and say sometimes I'm scared, and sometimes when they yell at me "FIND MY NURSE" I don't argue back with them and I chuckle to myself and say, hey! I can't complain...

I guess that sounds bad, but once you've been attacked a couple of times, I think you'll understand. anyways that's just a normal issue. I get waaay worse "ethnic" stuff.

*I have dreds, pts continually ask me, "Do you wash your hair?"

*Its so wonderful that you guys can work in places like this now.

*or the demented pt thats stuck in pre civil rights era and can't understand why I keep coming in their room

*many old people get "maid syndrome" when they see black nurses-fluff my pillow, rub my feet, LOL. they're old, many of them grew up when blacks couldn't even walk on their sidewalk so what can you do.

*or being in an ER with an violent racist drug addict that yells over and over at the top of his lungs while strapped to the stretcher, "kill the n*ggers!" That was quite awkward! lolol.

But then it has it's good sides, like this young hispanic girl came in that was in the beginning stages of schizophrenia and was agitated by every white person she saw. So they kept asking me to take her blood, give her meds, because for some reason, if I came in she wouldn't escalate.

I think it's hard to talk about these things without trying to point fingers and seemingly underlying issues that can cross color lines, but the truth is that our country was founded on racism, and in our profession we are definitely going to run into it. I was just trying to share a story saying, yeah, its going to happen. Yes it's annoying but it's all in how you deal with it.

I could get angry, I could be depressed, I could throw attitude at every seemingly racist pt, or I could take it all in stride. Try to understand where it comes from, and when it comes from a truly bad place, I can laugh at it. It may be uncouth, but sometimes if you don't laugh, you'll cry.

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Specializes in Ortho and Tele med/surg.

Hi, I'm Jersey. New grad here. About to relocate to Texas. Good to meet you on allnurses. Welcome. Yes, we are out there.

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I'm a white nurse but I'm interested to see how is the sitution for the black nurses out there in nursing world? Do you face additional hardships due to your different racial background?

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Specializes in OB, ER.

Hi Im Donia I am in Ohio and just started in informatics and so far liking it. I have experience in different departments. i work at a community hospital and get pulled alot its great!!! If you need anything give me a buzz

nice meeting you

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Specializes in Urgent Care, Family Medicine & OB/GYN.

Nursing student in Texas! May 2010! :-) We're out here!

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Specializes in LTC.

I'm an AA nurse. Today I had a new admit, 93 with dementia. The first thing she says is " I love your kind" " your kind is very nice and I don't have a problem with your race. All I can do was LOL. Her son apologized so many times.

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