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!

ok but past is a past...have you lived the past? or you just talking "stories"? right now you have as many rights as anyone else..should we all live in the past...i dont think it is good for our mental health..there were many bad things that happend in the past...shall all the new generation og jews and polish hate germans because of the past,should polish hate russian for the past,should russian hate germans,should french hate english or maybe english should hate french,should ecquador hate peru or peru should hate equador? or maybe native indian should hate the new generation of european american because their ancenstors did horrible things in the past?? do you actually think that black had the worse out of all?? tell this to the native indians who were killed during colonial time,all this to polish of whom 8 milions were murdered by russians,yes not enslaved but murdered..i'm not trying to discount your experiences but ever nation had suffer lesser or greater tragedies... but to according to you only your race suffered the most cruelty (and that to me is racist iteself) if you want to be succesful in nursing the cards are in your hands...just please forgive in your heart,your life will be much peaceful then.

this post is entirely insensitive. how can you question how a group of people should feel? you have made accusations and took this topic to another level which is not necessary at all. this goes deeper and you couldn't possibly ever relate in your life. and nobody expects you to do so-so no worries there.

earlier in another post i mentioned to basically ignore the nay-sayers, such as yourself. how can you say "the past is the past" and move on and not feel angry, life with peace, etc etc.??? everyone is simply being of support to one another-not devising a plan to destroy harmony and equality, nor start a riot. i, personally am not holding a grudge-i've been leading a productive role in society without "wallowing".

mind you-all minorities have been encouraged to join the discussion as well-if you read from the beginning. this is supposed to be a positive and helpful thread-not a place where you challenge a group in society's feelings. please stop while you're ahead. although you tried to appear to be unpretentious- all your remarks stem from not knowing. ignorance is bliss.

there's gotta be a forum where we can freely be expressive with each other(without the finger-pointing), out there somewhere. i've noticed some apprehension lately and it is unfortunate.

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Specializes in L&D, Mom/Baby, LTC, Rehab.

Hello everyone!

Thank you to jtmonique for starting this thread. I, like many of you, have experienced the sting of being treated differently just for the color of your skin. This thread is a great way to bring awareness to some of the challenges of being a minority nurse. In my current position, I am the only AA, and at times, my co workers can be really insensitive. Most times it is a matter of educating them, many other times, it is a product of the way they were raised to view minorities.

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The only people who appear defensive here are actually the people who belong to a minority group. Like for an instance that was a poster here who mentioned that someone assumed she was a cna....ok but how that person could have known she was a nurse...and when someone on here suggested to introduce herself by an RN title next time almost all the minority nurses involved in this thread started to get defensive..but how can the poster be 100% sure the remark was a racial one? Assumptions are just as ignorant as discriminationSeriously...I dont need to get defensive since I myself witnessed a predjustice during my clinicals--just quick example I was doing a rotation and all the nurses on the unit was Indian (Hindu) and even the doc!!It was a psych rotation and i was also my preceptorship at the same time..It was a psych facility and there was me and two other students assigned to a charge Indian nurse...from the get-go she totally ignored us like we didnt exist...And I wore an indian shirt one day (we could wear what we wanted on a psych unit--and the shirt that I was wearing I got from an old navy and it looked like an indian shirt--you know those long ones and colorful one...my preceptor noticed this shirt right away and she said "oh my God you look like an Indian nurse" and then she started to more smiley and nice and all of the sudden more open to teachings,but by then it was too late cause the rotation was over so I didnt care anymore,just politely thank her for her time and was out of there...not to mention other discrimination I faced numerous of time from other minorities like philipino and indian nurses...the truth is nursing is very much occupied with more minorities than majorities..I did most of my clinicals in tons of inner city hospitals and dealt mostly with minority nurses...I noticed more white nurses in specialties like Labor and delivery and nicu...or in suburbs so really where do you guys see all those white nurses...what I see more is MINORITIES discriminate agaist other MINORITIES...

Ps. Also this is a general nursing forum so if someone is bothered my a non-minority nurses responses it doesnt hurt to ask moderators to create a seperate forum for minority nurses.

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Its hard to forget when are things are still happening TODAY.

Ok but life will never be perfect but to change the world we must first make an attempt to change ourselves..you know seriously why waste your short time on this earth and focus on negativity and complaining...yeah I know it is harder to look for the positive aspects of life.

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:banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead::banghead: well so much for the positivity of this thread.......
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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

transcultural nursing: basic concepts & case studies

our hope is to give you some idea of the range of cultural behaviors and the need to understand people's actions from their own cultural perspective in health and illness. ...

we are a non profit organization, dedicated to increasing awareness to the issues of transcultural nursing, to promote cultural diversity in nursing, and propose solutions when problems of bias or conflict arise. information on this web site is based on our twelve years of travel experiences, research, study and analysis of different cultures and subcultures we have worked with.

www.culturediversity.org/

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Thanks to the OP and others for opening my eyes. I didn't realize how hard it must be. I think it would be great to start a new topic (thread) and I would love to read and learn more. : ) BTW: Merry Christmas everyone!

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Hi all! As a nurse hopeful with a latin/black/white background I just wanted to say thank you the OP!

I will be checking back.

It would be nice if the thread could be re-centered on us (nurses/minorities/whoever lol) connecting rather than picking apart the motive for this thread.

Theres no harm in quietly watching from the sidelines....... :)

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Specializes in ER/Acute Care.
The only people who appear defensive here are actually the people who belong to a minority group. Like for an instance that was a poster here who mentioned that someone assumed she was a cna....ok but how that person could have known she was a nurse...and when someone on here suggested to introduce herself by an RN title next time almost all the minority nurses involved in this thread started to get defensive..but how can the poster be 100% sure the remark was a racial one? Assumptions are just as ignorant as discriminationSeriously...I dont need to get defensive since I myself witnessed a predjustice during my clinicals--just quick example I was doing a rotation and all the nurses on the unit was Indian (Hindu) and even the doc!!It was a psych rotation and i was also my preceptorship at the same time..It was a psych facility and there was me and two other students assigned to a charge Indian nurse...from the get-go she totally ignored us like we didnt exist...And I wore an indian shirt one day (we could wear what we wanted on a psych unit--and the shirt that I was wearing I got from an old navy and it looked like an indian shirt--you know those long ones and colorful one...my preceptor noticed this shirt right away and she said "oh my God you look like an Indian nurse" and then she started to more smiley and nice and all of the sudden more open to teachings,but by then it was too late cause the rotation was over so I didnt care anymore,just politely thank her for her time and was out of there...not to mention other discrimination I faced numerous of time from other minorities like philipino and indian nurses...the truth is nursing is very much occupied with more minorities than majorities..I did most of my clinicals in tons of inner city hospitals and dealt mostly with minority nurses...I noticed more white nurses in specialties like Labor and delivery and nicu...or in suburbs so really where do you guys see all those white nurses...what I see more is MINORITIES discriminate agaist other MINORITIES...

Ps. Also this is a general nursing forum so if someone is bothered my a non-minority nurses responses it doesnt hurt to ask moderators to create a seperate forum for minority nurses.

AGAIN, minimizing the experiences of others. How about sitting back and just listening for a while? It's obvious that people aren't telling lies about their experiences. I really think OP's original point was not to argue the fact that racism is alive and well, because we all know that. With all of the arguing, this thread will eventually be closed and the point will be completely lost. Just listen, and give it a chance...

She welcomed EVERYONE to comment on their experiences, network, and create a positive experience. White, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Martian, whatever! Do you really feel you're doing that?

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Ok but life will never be perfect but to change the world we must first make an attempt to change ourselves..you know seriously why waste your short time on this earth and focus on negativity and complaining...yeah I know it is harder to look for the positive aspects of life.

I've been silently reading but just had to comment on this post- What exactly is it that seriously galls you about this thread? Why not calm down, sit back and let it happen?

It seems to me like you being overly defensive when there is entirely no need to be. Relax:) Let people share their experiences. You/We may not always agree but at least everyone should have a chance to speak out. Let's listen and try not to be judgmental. We can learn a lot with our "ears" rather than our "mouths".

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I was thinking the same thing. In my area, I am the minority. In my class of 30 there are three caucasian people. I dont understand why there is such a rift and need to separate. I know I am going to get SLAMED for this one but really? In my class, we are a family... not black, white, blue, pink, or brown. When we separate ourselves and push others out, that is when we create racism in our generation. We are ALL nurses or trying to achieve that name. I am not a white nursing student, my best friend in class is not a latino nursing student... we are all students trying to reach ONE goal. When we introduce ourselves, we do not say "Hi, My name is Jennifer and I will be your white/black/latino/etc nurse today". We have to all stick together and be one group. Until that happens, there will always be hate and I for one am tired of it.

I will say one more thing, what would happen if I started a thread that was "Looking for fellow white nurses!". What if I put down posts that were not of my view? I know I am already going to get hated on for this but I had to say it. I am tired of people separating themselves. If you try to tell me that I have never felt the anguish of ethnic hate, believe me I have. Like I already said, I am a minority in this town. But I am not going to look for other white people to congregate with so that I feel more secure in my skin. I will keep trucking on as a person not as a skin.

If you are feeeling that way I suggest that you wouldn't bother posting here. No offense. I'm just saying though.... And I don't know what you tell you except that maybe you should read other posts instead of just posting without thinking. It is very hard to deal with elderly white people because they lived in a different era. Civil rights weren't too long ago. Realistically some of these really old pts have actually witness lynchings as children. It would be awful as a human being to ignore this fact and not understand that there are a group of people unfairly sectioned out because of something they can't control in a place they were more than likely never intended to be.

Let's not forget all of the mental issues that have been passed down through generations because some ppl like to act like it never happened. So we as a country never rid ourselves of the mental issues associated with hating a group of people. Which should have been obvious in this last election. Many racists suddenly thought to not exist started coming out of the woodworks. Yes he got into office, but so did George Bush and most of the country didn't like him either, for other reasons.

Point being, we as americans as a whole will never be able to move forward from this racism issue if we never address it. Just acknowledging it isn't enough. I graduated in a class of 150 and during clincals people would often ask for the blonde nursing student, and I would just laugh and say, "which one?" You just feel sectioned off not because you are looking for other black nurses but because of the way you are treated, like when we learned about traction alopecia!! LOL. My teacher kept exclaiming, "WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER GET THESE THINGS." talking about braids. What would she ever know or understand about black hair care. Not to mention when you get these black girls in the psych areas they look so unkempt because many white RN's don't know how to care for their hair, or their skin. They think they're being mistreated when they put grease on their skin of their hair!!!! I mean do you understand nothing about cultural diversity?!

I mean blacks have their issues but there are also other cultures! Japanese, Indian, Muslim!!! ALL have cultures that we should be aware of, and if muslim nurses began looking for other muslim nurses I wouldn't be offended maybe they would like to talk to each other about dress uniforms and how to cover their heads and pt's asking them about their coverings.

and lastly, I'm in CT, and I wouldn't be suprised if there was a group of polish nurses looking for other polish nurses. And I wouldn't feel offended....

LIVE AND LET LIVE...

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ok but past is a past...have you lived the past? or you just talking "stories"? right now you have as many rights as anyone else..should we all live in the past...i dont think it is good for our mental health..there were many bad things that happend in the past...shall all the new generation og jews and polish hate germans because of the past,should polish hate russian for the past,should russian hate germans,should french hate english or maybe english should hate french,should ecquador hate peru or peru should hate equador? or maybe native indian should hate the new generation of european american because their ancenstors did horrible things in the past?? do you actually think that black had the worse out of all?? tell this to the native indians who were killed during colonial time,all this to polish of whom 8 milions were murdered by russians,yes not enslaved but murdered..i'm not trying to discount your experiences but ever nation had suffer lesser or greater tragedies... but to according to you only your race suffered the most cruelty (and that to me is racist iteself) if you want to be succesful in nursing the cards are in your hands...just please forgive in your heart,your life will be much peaceful then.

people who talk about living in the past are uneducated. sorry. i admit that statement is offensive and harsh. and i'm sorry. but i just gotta say it. what is the old quote out there, those who ignore their past are doomed to repeat it? something like that.

it's not old news, it's still out there. it was only a couple of years ago those white men dragged that handicapped black man down the road right?!

i think there are some people in this world who are racist and who aren't. i think that white people who ask my opinion and listen, aren't. i think white people who push annoyingly to forget, and nothing else are. i know that is jumping to conclusions but i'm friends with enough white people to stand by it.

true white friends of mine, never ask why i say the n word and they can't. they never tell me how blacks need to get over slavery. they are just friends. and when i vent because someone was racist to me, they listen, because they are my friend.

whites who do that, i believe inside are.

and of course other minorities are mean and predjucided to each other. i've seen that as well. that, however, doesn't preclude whites from racism.

and see the fact that i need to explain this to you after mlk was shot and killed not more than 60 years ago for preaching equal rights, malcom x killed as well, all the stupid movies explaining ad nauseum the effects of slavery and how it is passed on from generation to generation, willie lynch letters, million man marches, black history month.... etc

after all that crap you want to preach forgiveness and forgetfulness! wow. there is a young black man in jail right now, prolly 20 now, because he was adopted by white parents. was raised white, because they could do nothing else, and being white thought racism didn't exist, like you. allowed him at 17 to date a white girl in their neighboorhood.... only to have those parents put him in jail because the girl was 16. any normal parents wouldn't have done that but those parents being racist put his black butt in jail. and those white parents were on cnn crying because they didn't understand why or how. lol. i know that's horrible but blacks all over the country watching were thinking, smh. no matter who raised that boy, he's still black and has to live aware of that.... bet he's aware of that now in jail........

after all these situations it's offensive that you would be upset that any minorities are searching for each other. do you get mad at gays when they search each other out too?

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