Not many Black/African American nurses working in the ICU's

Hay Nars, RN · Feb 6, 2012

Must be your region because the majority of the nurses here, regardless of unit, are African American. (:

Or Jamaican/Amercan. ;D

Biffbradford · Feb 6, 2012

Hello, I have worked in the 3 different CVICU's in the past 8 years and there is always less than 5 AA nurses in the unit. Why?

Is that good or bad? Does it matter? (Hey, where did the smilie faces go?)

gcupid · Feb 7, 2012

I do believe that some places unofficially require more credentials as a black person as oppose to other races in order to enter the icu. One practice that I've noticed is that white counterparts can enter icu as a new grad but somehow for black candidates you need to have med surg experience first.

It was instilled to me that I (blacks) have to be twice as good to be on the same playing field as whites...with that being said ICU was never a working goal of mine. If I really wanted to be in the icu, I'd be there and the same situation applies to OB as well.....

i-njoy-being-a-nurse · Feb 8, 2012

You are right! I was the only "person of color' in the CVICU internship program. It was an expectation of CCRN, moving up the clinical ladder, and become an advanced practice nurse. The color of my skin was not a factor at all. Knowledge of the cardiothoracic patient was the focus for every nurse. That particular hospital was very diverse!! The staff ranged from early 20's to 60's, Caucasian, Filipino, African American, and others.

I worked per diem at another hospital in the Texas Medical Center and the attitudes were different. When I worked in Dallas and Sacramento, things changed. I can not believe the attitudes of the nurses and the culture of the unit.

i-njoy-being-a-nurse · Feb 8, 2012

Yes it matters.

CrunchRN, ADN, RN · Feb 8, 2012

I think it is a hugely regional thing. I would also ask why more black?african american nurses do not pursue nursing or do they if you look at population statistics? It would be interesting to know. I certainly cannot see why any potential employer would cosider skin color a criteria in the hiring decision. Unless they are just a total jerk.

BennyRsMom · Feb 9, 2012

If that is the case then a discrimination case could have and should have been filed. That is blatant discrimination that I am surprised hasn't been challenged.

OCNRN63, RN · Feb 9, 2012

I do believe that some places unofficially require more credentials as a black person as oppose to other races in order to enter the icu. One practice that I've noticed is that white counterparts can enter icu as a new grad but somehow for black candidates you need to have med surg experience first.
It was instilled to me that I (blacks) have to be twice as good to be on the same playing field as whites...with that being said ICU was never a working goal of mine. If I really wanted to be in the icu, I'd be there and the same situation applies to OB as well.....

You're stating what you believe to be true, not what you know to be true as supported by facts.

Maybe that's what your family told you, but I've never believed it. Make sure you're not super-imposing your views on others.

gcupid · Feb 9, 2012

You're stating what you believe to be true, not what you know to be true as supported by facts.
Maybe that's what your family told you, but I've never believed it. Make sure you're not super-imposing your views on others.

Thank you for reading my comment. I sure hope that others have the ability to break down the meaning of my sentences......

If you can reason, so can others......

and make sure or else WHAT!!!

NightNurse876 · Feb 9, 2012

There's a joke where I work about only certain nurses working on particular units and I kinda noticed that only certain nurses would get floated there, sometimes 2-3 days in a row unless they objected. But other than that funny-haha my hospital is diverse and reflective of the area. I love it bc some days you go on a unit and its oober chocolate and other days its mad vanilla swing by at night and it gets a lil carmel on top! Yum! Never a dull moment with the mix at my place....haha, good times!

CCRNDiva, BSN, RN · Feb 11, 2012

Minorities, especially Blacks, or African American, and latinos, or Hispanic, make up a small percentage of nurses period (far lower than their percentage of the US population). It's unfortunate, but nursing (maybe healthcare in general) is not a diverse profession. Most of the nursing profession is made up of white females. I think we've done a poor job recruiting minorities into the profession but we may be making progress in this area.

I think it depends upon the region you work in too. I think I can count the number of black and latino RNs in my hospital on my hands. I'm the only Black RN on my unit (we do have a RN from Nigeria though) and we have one Mexican RN. I'm always the only Black RN at the charge meetings and one of the few Black RNs in class. I think it is just the nature of the beast. Most of the docs who are minorities in my region deal with the same thing.