In the lawsuit, Teoka Williams, RN, alleges that on Oct. 2 she heard a patient say she did not want any black caregivers. Ms. Williams says she told the clinical manager, who then spoke to the patient. The clinical manager then reportedly told Ms. Williams not to enter the patient's room or care for her. A white nurse was asked to care for the patient.
Ms. Williams also alleges that she told the human resources department about the incident and was told "patient requests are honored all the time and that the next time it happened, she would be taken off the assignment altogether," News 5 Cleveland reports.
Hospitals need to quite catering to all racial-preference requests. I have had pt requests for black. Latino etc...nurses when there were no 'race-ethnicity' nurses' of request on the unit that day thus they got me (I am white.)
Given I don't hold bias pt/family quickly adjust which is not difficult when you treat all people with equity and veracity. Language/culture I get but having hospitals cater to every whim merely because someone does not want to interact with others based upon skin color I don't.
Staffing should be based upon acuity, not ancestry. That and may open a few eyes for people to discover color is only skin deep.
Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
I guess I don't understand how a lawsuit could really end up with a finding for the nurses. As far as I know employers pretty much universally retain the right to assign staff as needed, if the employer decided honoring a patients wish regarding which nurses are assigned is ok even if it is based on the patient's prejudice I still don't see that as legally actionable, at least not unless preferentially assigning nursing staff is habitual and some harm to the staff can be proved.
I think the nurse in this situation has the challenge of proving that the request was based on the patient's bias against people of her race. We are a country that upholds the rights of all people regardless of race (Civil Rights Act of 1954) which also ensures non-discrimination in the workplace (i.e., hospital where the nurse works). The lawsuit is also invoking a Michigan Elliott-Lorificen Civil Rights Act which I'm not familiar with.
The details of the lawsuit are here: nurselawsuit.pdf. What is not clear in the lawsuit is if this patient made a blanket statement that he/she did not want any black nurses caring for him/her or whether he/she just didn't want this nurse who happen to be black caring for him/her.
Allowing white patient to request white-only caregiver:
- reinforces a racist belief that people of color are inferior and less competent
- disrespects people of color as unworthy of their role as the patient's caregiver
- reignites history of painful discrimination, segregation, marginalization, and maltreatment of people of color especially Black Americans
Alllowing Muslin female to request female-only caregiver:
- respects a Muslim woman's practice of modesty which is one of the teachings of her religion
- does not imply that male caregivers are incompetent or unworthy of their professional role
- does not disrespect the male role in our society, which, historically have not often been the subject of discrimination or persecution
Those to me are the differences in the two scenarios. I support the nurse who sued.
So how do you feel about black patients who request a black nurse, Hispanics who request a Hispanic nurse, Filipino who request Filipino nurse etc.
Also we don't know all the circumstances in all these "request" situations and have to be careful not to label someone a racist when there could be more to the story.
Take this out of the context of nursing, and look at it from that angle.
I am going to golf today and insist on a white caddy.
Make sure you send a white repairman to my house, I dont have the time and energy to follow a ______ around my house to see nothing is stolen.
In fact, I'll be out at the only restaurant that honors my request that only white people touch my food. Though I don't mind if that other kind cleans up, that seems about right to me.
My kid's teacher was filling his head with nonsense, calling this attitude racism, till I switched teachers. I told that principle that no immigrant is going to be teaching my kid- that "teacher" should be out picking lettuce like the rest of them.
Oh, and by the way, I'll be needing a white nurse.
There is a difference, as most people in the hospital are sick and vulnerable, maybe dealing with loss, feeling miserable, whatever the circumstance might be. They may latch onto something that gives them a little control over their situation.
While I am in complete disagreement with someone who requests a caregiver based only on race and would rightly label them a bigot, I do not equivocate that scenario with something like golfing or dining out where you are in a position of greater control and not experiencing the stresses that come with a hospitalization.
That said, I wouldn't take such a request without using it as an opportunity. Send the charge nurse to talk to the patient, get more information about what the concern is. Maybe it's just one nurse the patient is trying to avoid. Or maybe they've encountered other nationalities who have accents that make it hard to understand. They may think it's easier just to request "white nurses" not realizing how it comes across.
I see this as an opportunity to let the patient know that excellent nursing care is not related to the color of one's skin.
I would want to gently make the point with that person that a request of that nature might come across as racist, and hurtful. Some people live in a bubble of some sort that they are never challenged on the kind of ideas they have.
If it is all said and done, and they still just want white, let them know that their preferences will be honored, but it is "disappointing" because they will miss out on some of the best caregivers.
You may want to go back and reread the comment...it was "liked" so much because of the sarcastic twist that the OP added about being able to sue for being a male and being "discriminated" against...
At least I think this is the post you're referring to except the post you're referring wasn't quoted...you may have underlying "unworthy" reading comprehension that doesn't allow you to "see the difference"...
Disclaimer: I personally only know how to quote only one discussion post at a time :-)!
No, I didn't realize I had to quote the post I was replying to. I had assumed clicking reply meant 'reply to this post' instead of reply to the entire thread. Beyond that I have no idea what you mean...your post doesn't make very much sense. I did indeed read the comment around five or six times while I tried to figure out what the point of it was, and if it was sarcasm meant to amuse it certainly missed the mark. Am I meant to understand that a conservative Muslim woman refusing care from a man out of discomfort is the same thing as a racist refusing care from a black person out of personal bigotry, and we should all get a laugh out of it?
So how do you feel about black patients who request a black nurse, Hispanics who request a Hispanic nurse, Filipino who request Filipino nurse etc.
Also we don't know all the circumstances in all these "request" situations and have to be careful not to label someone a racist when there could be more to the story.
It's not the same! And you guys know it!
You can research it if you would like to. Black people don't receive adequate pain medication when they go to the hospital. Their symptoms are often disregard.
And there are still a lot racist practices that go in hospitals.
There is not one situation you can find of a Black nurse or physician giving shabby care to a white person because of the color of their skin.
But you can definitely find the opposite.
Many Minorities may know this so that's why these request may be asked of.
Serena Williams the millionaire even spoke about how she was disregarded! Because she's a Black Woman.
You can't find the same thing about Caucasian patients!
But, you can find a lot of patients who are Caucasian refusing care simply because the person isn't white!
You can research it if you would like to. Black people don't receive adequate pain medication when they go to the hospital. Their symptoms are often disregard.
And there are still a lot racist practices that go in hospitals.
There is not one situation you can find of a Black nurse or physician giving shabby care to a white person because of the color of their skin.
But you can definitely find the opposite.
Many Minorities may know this so that's why these request may be asked of.
Serena Williams the millionaire even spoke about how she was disregarded! Because she's a Black Woman.
You can't find the same thing about Caucasian patients!
But, you can find a lot of patients who are Caucasian refusing care simply because the person isn't white!
First, let me say I am truly sorry for you that you have experienced racism, I do know that it exists and should not.
Re: the post, I do not know that it is different. I have worked with many different races staff and patients alike. The only reason I hear any staff complaining about a patient and/or wanting to change patients is because that patient is a PITA. I have worked 40+ years and have never seen any staff refuse/not want to take care of someone because of their race or treat them different (and that includes non nursing jobs). I have seen patients treat staff different and I agree that is wrong (like this case), but that also applies to many different races. I had a patient not want me as their nurse because I was not the same race, I might have been a little offended but didn't make a big deal about it, it was their issue for whatever reason. There are many people in the hospital, who according to them, do not get the pain meds they need and/or feel they were disregarded because they didn't get what they wanted/felt they should. I don't see that as racism. I don't know what research you are referring to but maybe you could provide a link.
Again, I am sorry for your personal experience and I am not dismissing it. I do think that in some of these cases though we need to be careful when calling someone a racist when we don't know all the facts.
Many years ago we had a black female patient in our small mid-western hospital and she demanded that only black caregivers come I to her room. Unfortunately for her, at that time, our area was not very diversified. She had to deal with the rest of us and ended up getting the same great care as everyone else and was very pleasant to us.
I think there is a difference in asking for an accomodation based on a religious reason/preference, and asking for an accomodation because you're racist. I do not think that hospitals should be accomodating to that type of ignorance and racism, and I think it sets a tone for the racist that their behavior is acceptable when it absolutely is not.
K9lover, ASN, RN
507 Posts
Hospitals need to quite catering to all racial-preference requests. I have had pt requests for black. Latino etc...nurses when there were no 'race-ethnicity' nurses' of request on the unit that day thus they got me (I am white.)
Given I don't hold bias pt/family quickly adjust which is not difficult when you treat all people with equity and veracity. Language/culture I get but having hospitals cater to every whim merely because someone does not want to interact with others based upon skin color I don't.
Staffing should be based upon acuity, not ancestry. That and may open a few eyes for people to discover color is only skin deep.