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

Nursingrules:) · Mar 23, 2012

According to minoritynurse.com: There are approximately 122,495 black (non-Hispanic) nurses. There are 2,909,357 licensed registered nurses in the United States. I cut and paste this directly from their website. I thought the number was actually a little higher, but perhaps I am wrong. Statistically, the numbers you saw were right considering how many AA nurses exist.

rn/writer, RN · Mar 23, 2012

Aside from covert racism (which, unfortunately, does exist in some facilities), one of the reasons for a lack of black people in the professions has to be the huge dropout rate in many urban communities. I live near a US metropolis where the inner city dropout rate is more than 40%. Four out of five of community college students in the city need remedial coursework before they're ready to handle further education. Only 40% of tenth-graders were rated proficient in reading and just 30% performed well in math.

The city is pouring all kinds of money and resources into the school system and seeing some improvement, but the kind of changes that need to occur happen slowly. At least there are some indications that things are looking up. The dropout rate used to be more than 50%. That means that an additional 10% of the kids are sticking around to graduate. Unfortunately, it also means that there are many families where getting a high school diploma has not historically been the norm.

In the meantime, members of this community will continue to be under-represented in all of the professions, not just nursing.

Merlyn · Mar 23, 2012

Aside from covert racism (which, unfortunately, does exist in some facilities), one of the reasons for a lack of black people in the professions has to be the huge dropout rate in many urban communities. I live near a US metropolis where the inner city dropout rate is more than 40%. Four out of five of community college students in the city need remedial coursework before they're ready to handle further education. Only 40% of tenth-graders were rated proficient in reading and just 30% performed well in math.
The city is pouring all kinds of money and resources into the school system and seeing some improvement, but the kind of changes that need to occur happen slowly. At least there are some indications that things are looking up. The dropout rate used to be more than 50%. That means that an additional 10% of the kids are sticking around to graduate. Unfortunately, it also means that there are many families where getting a high school diploma has not historically been the norm.
In the meantime, members of this community will continue to be under-represented in all of the professions, not just nursing.

You are quoting statics and logic again...Watch it. It will interfere with the OP's fantasy.

Quandrika · Jun 19, 2012

However with most people Irish is considered White and since AA people have been oppressed for so many years AA are able to do that because we do not hold a lot of power as white people do. It may be easy for you to say " I just wish there will come a day when we can drop the ID names and just put American" but I bet that you do not get the looks and attitude from people who think you do not know what you are doing or that you are stupid. When you receive those kinds of looks and comments based on your color then you can make comments like that.

Delete_Me_Please · Jun 21, 2012

I'm white... Where is this "power" that I guess I'm supposed to hold? I worked in a unit where I was the only white nurse and saw maybe three white patients in the six months I was there. People did look at me like I didn't know what I was doing, so those looks aren't reserved for black nurses, quandrika. We get them too.

NightNurse876 · Jun 21, 2012

I'm white... Where is this "power" that I guess I'm supposed to hold? I worked in a unit where I was the only white nurse and saw maybe three white patients in the six months I was there. People did look at me like I didn't know what I was doing, so those looks aren't reserved for black nurses, quandrika. We get them too.

Specifically to your post kcrncen: My opinion from what I read from the posts is that it's not about the power you have it's about the power of PR and customer service as a tool for your employer...and that in some places they prefer a certain look. For you it was a diffferent experience with your patient population...hear me out and again just my opinion...lol! I mean where I work there's a RT that will go down the hall and say "That black family is aweful," and he will say it to me as if he's not looking at a lil brown girl. But with families that are just as bad that look like him he will say "That family is aweful" When he said it my immediate thought was "why the distinction?" But me personally I try to forgive him bc there is no way he realizes what he's saying...even if he thinks he does. And it's hard bc I had to forgive him again today in my car when I thought about the same thing...lol, obviously that experience is still a work in progress

But generally, I think:

Everyone will have some kind of discriminatory experience. I get looked at consistently by my ICU patients families like I don't know a thing. I've had people ask me: Are you a RN; Are you a student; Where are you from; Where did you go to school; How long have you been a nurse....

And almost everytime when I see them in the hallway when I'm coming in for another shift after taking care of their family member they are asking me if I'm their nurse that night. I have had a family question my qualifications to my manager and by morning when I said goodbye as I passed her husband in the hallway he said "Thank you. God bless you." Days later when I saw them on the SDU they asked me if I was their nurse (diff unit and I work nights, this was 0745 on my way out). Their faces sank when I said no and that I was actually just finishing my shift.

My point is some one will always be the minority. Their will always be a norm for a certain town, city, state. An expectation of what "their nurse" looks like, and yes it's unspoken because it tabu to discuss. If you know your clients and the comunity you target with your PR and you are in it to make money, you have a certain "face" for your brand, your company. Maybe because of the type of applicants you get or the exceptional quality of the employee who is not the typical expected "face" then you have a diversified mix but it doesn't change what people expect to see. Again unspoken but if you can honestly sit and think and say that it's the way of the world, then invite me to your bubble, I want in!

And by the way, I am 25....I look 12, barely 100lbs, Jamaican with what society affectionately calls "dreadlocks" and I will be renewing my license for the first time this month, I worked a year medsurg almosts, got into critical care, did 2 months orientation and productive time in ICU stepdown and 4 months ICU orientation and have now been productive in ICU for a month an a half. And the fact is compared to my co-workers that have been doing ICU 35 years I know I dont know a thing...they joke about getting manually wedges, when yea I can get a wedge pressure but if my monitor/bedside machine wont do it I can't do what they can do. But that doesn't mean that I'm alone and can't ask for help and ensure my patient gets the best care I can give them. I'm jealous I want what's in these "seasoned" nurse's brains. I wanna be the best at what I do. But no matter what I look like or my passion or what my work ethic is, anyone can doubt me. And I do go home and fuss about it sometimes but when I go back and I see the relief on my families faces that they believe their family member will be taken care of, and even if things go wrong, that I will do my best, it's worth it and I can live with that right now. Some people can't do that, and I can't fault a soul. I don't have to deal with their real feelings or thoughts, just my own...

Delete_Me_Please · Jun 22, 2012

From what you're saying, the "are you an rn are you a student etc" questions probably originate in the fact that you make an effort to care about your patients as people, not just as bodies and numbers, like most ICU nurses do. Most ICU families are not accustomed to nurses paying them extra attention, but instead looking at them as a burden to be managed... Youre confusing them by standing out from your coworkers; you can either look at this as a black thing, or as a does-her-job-differently thing.

sapphire18 · Jun 22, 2012

From what you're saying, the "are you an rn are you a student etc" questions probably originate in the fact that you make an effort to care about your patients as people, not just as bodies and numbers, like most ICU nurses do. Most ICU families are not accustomed to nurses paying them extra attention, but instead looking at them as a burden to be managed... Youre confusing them by standing out from your coworkers; you can either look at this as a black thing, or as a does-her-job-differently thing.

Wow, really?? Ouch.

NightNurse876 · Jun 24, 2012

From what you're saying, the "are you an rn are you a student etc" questions probably originate in the fact that you make an effort to care about your patients as people, not just as bodies and numbers, like most ICU nurses do. Most ICU families are not accustomed to nurses paying them extra attention, but instead looking at them as a burden to be managed... Youre confusing them by standing out from your coworkers; you can either look at this as a black thing, or as a does-her-job-differently thing.

I do think I do things differently, but that's me as a whole generally, it just comes oout in my more. Thanks for that, but I would hope a family having an ICU experienced wouldn't feel that way. And I'll take a gamble and say they do feel supported and not managed, evidenced by the amount of food we get. Furthermore, I dont see why it would be a "black" thing, in regards to me work ethic. And I've only experienced nurses have moments of feeling burdened but there isn't a truely overtly "family managing" nurse in my unit.

whereslilly · Jun 24, 2012

I have worked in many different Critical care area's (CVCU,CCU,MICU). Also, this was in more than one hospital. They were all in the NY metro area. They all served a very diverse population. In turn the nurses I worked with generally represented this population well. To put it bluntly, yes I worked with many African-American, Haitan, and other Caribean nurses. It just depends on where you live. This was also at least fifteen years ago. I truly believe (and have personally experienced) there is a terrible undercurrent of racism in this country that did not exist at that time. Just my opinion.

CardiacKittyRN · Jun 30, 2012

"many women, myself included, are more comfortable with a female provider for gynecological care, so it should not be surprising that many would be more comfortable with a provider who looks like them. "

i just had to comment on this one point... i am a white female who uses a black male doctor as my primary care provider. i didn't chose him based on the color of his skin, nor do i feel less "comfortable" with him because we are not of the same race. i don't feel less relate-able to someone just because they are different than me. in a healthcare situation, all i judge a provider on is their ability to provide me with quality care and this judgement comes based on their actions. i think that people who are truly not racial biased see the person and not the skin color and i think sometimes people forget that racism can go both ways. i just think statements like this from any racial or religious group are what keep stereotypes and divisions alive.

Ivanna_Nurse, BSN, RN · Jul 3, 2012

interesting thread, with lots of views and input. i have to agree hands down that it is a regional thing.... we are a very large hospital and house about 1000 employees. i am the minority among the filipinos, haitians, and indians. Ivanna