Nursing Me Black

[NurseThis21]

It was like I was a needle cap placed among a sea of cotton balls. It just seemed...off. Is it even possible? Where is my version of Florence Nightingale?

Perhaps I should get connected and join

• Association of black nurses
• Black nurses society
• Black nurses r us
• Nurses who are black,inc.
• You're black? And a nurse? Join us!

Maybe this was my ticket to finally feel like I 'm among the ranks of professional individuals, to belong even if it is dangerously close to the sidelines. As a nursing student, I always felt like I had to prove myself to my patients and my instructors. Even though I come from the fabulous city of Chicago, the majority of black nurses work for the county and therefore I was never in contact with them to be inspired, to feel safe, to find a reason to keep going.

But I did.

It was arduous, daunting, and exciting all at the same time, but I steered clear of anything that was a dead giveaway for an excuse. Since I come from a society that is seeping with self-doubt and a "crabs in a bucket" mentality, it wasn't a pretty journey; that's what made it perfect. It feels so rewarding to have little girls run up to me and say that they want to be a nurse now that they've seen someone actually come through the woodwork. It's like I give them hope for something that typically seems so unattainable. They have yet to experience true hardships and challenges, but hopefully I've shown them that it's all worth it in the end. They just need the passion to overcome any obstacle.

But you know what I realized?

It's not about being black and therefore feeling so accomplished about the day's work. It's about being a human being and a nurse. It's about recognizing your own potential before you begin concentrating on the color of your skin.

We don't need...

• Association of black nurses
• Black nurses society
• Black nurses r us
• Nurses who are black inc.
• You're black? And a nurse? Join us!

... To tell us that we're important. We can only find confidence within ourselves. We have already made great strides towards becoming whatever we want to be and our future looks even brighter.

Maybe it's best for us all to figuratively remove the rods and cones from our eyes and become colorblind. A white nurse is a black nurse is a Hispanic nurse is a Filipino nurse is a Chinese nurse is an Indian nurse. I plan on doing so just to show people how beneficial it is.

Yes, we may be outnumbered as nurses when it comes to statistics, but I choose to think of us as diamonds; rare and hard to come by!

Be human. Be beautiful. But most of all, be...lieve.

Nursethis21, BSN, RN

UIC Alumna

[noreenl]

secretsy said:

Hello to "Nursing Me Black" I am pleased to meet your acquaintance. I am A female of African American heritage who happens to hold a BSN in nursing. I can not express to you the hard ship that I have been through over the years as a nurse. I have been forced to resign my first year as a RN due to being taught by other nurses all the wrong ways of doing clinical procedures. I have had another facility suspend me for being a patient advocate which is what I was taught to do. I have had a facility try to steal my license from me intentionally by having one of their staff members steal narcotics from my med cart prior to me coming on shift. I have a pending legal matter with this particular facility. Overall, I have had a lack of acceptance period in the years of nursing and had to work harder at it and prove myself qualified for the job by my knowledge base and job performance. I just find that when they see the RN status I am not liked because I went to school a little longer than most. Why... I say to myself the hatred? Not only that, as you stated earlier you look around and you find yourself a minority. The truth is I have seen this to be the case. I have even tried to research where are African American Nurses residing in America and whether they are content or not? I found that most minority nurses are predominantly in southern states. I said that may be my next move. More than anything I believe nurses in general should be unionized because there are so many avenues that an employer can use to let you go in this field of work. Dont you agree?

Unfortunately color is not the only excuse. As a union officer in a large county hospital in NY I was "attacked" in many of the same ways you were. I am so glad you mentioned unions as a way to protect ourselves, but may I add for our less fortunate nonunionized brothers and sisters that there is strength also in the memberships of our specialities. For example NASN National Asssociation of School Nurses! WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!!

[Conqueror+, BSN, RN]

I think that many people are "fed up" with race and want to stop hearing about it because it doesn't affect them. In other words they can afford to ignore it. Its like telling a victim of abuse to get over it. Its a nice world of denial. Others were persecuted ELSEWHERE and came here to escape. What if they had to stay there and live after the persecution? What if you had to live in the house with your abuser forever and raise your kids with theirs? It isn't that simple. Someone said that they never got anything because of their skin color. How do you know that? You don't know your skin is an issue until you are refused something because of it. I didn't know that race mattered until i was five. It matterd then and know because this is America. A large part of this countrys history is rooted in white supremacy. The laws may have changed but peoples minds have not. If it were just ignorant rednecks you wouldn't have entire companies being sued for discrimination. And please spare me the rhetoric about another man with a white mother who went to Harvard being in the white house. If it was a change then why can't you find bullets anywhere? Because they have been SOLD OUT since the election. I love everyone and we are equal in Gods eyes. I don't work and live in a neighborhood with God. There is desire and reality. The two don't always meet. A 7 yo boy died in the ER because his parents insisted on waiting for a white doctor to come from the next county to treat their son. The mercedes and expensive clothes suggested that they weren't poor rednecks. I'm sure the excuses and long drawn out possible explanations are on their way to this thread.

[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

Your post was enlightening and has obviously opened up a "great" debate. I think it is wonderful when something gets us talking like this. Now, if only everyone would also listen.

I have worked in about 20 different ERs due to agency and travel jobs in the Chicago suburbs mostly. It is still rare for me to see an african american nurse. And I have never seen a male nurse of color.

All I can say is I hope there are more coming ASAP. We need the diversity. I want to live and work in a huge melting pot. It is way more interesting.

I once saw a white patient refuse to have a black nurse. She made a big mistake because the replacement nurse wasn't nearly as good a nurse. I also have seen many belligerent patients and family members call some of my favorite security people by racial slurs and all I can say is it breaks my heart.

[dianah, ASN]

This is a gentle reminder that this thread is for comments on the member's article only.

Thank you.

[RN1984HH]

To all Nurses of color...

What an inspiration to write and talk about... I have been a nurse for 25+ years and I have been black all of my 50+ years. I live in Florida. I have taught at the LPN and 2year RN level. We are taught the same. I have and continue to ask "What lelvel of Nursing are you in"?..This is for the CNA on up to the PhD level.

But for some reason...I always get asked... Are you a CNA? You have inspired me to complete my article on "Are you a CNA?"

RN1984HH

[RN Randy]

Pageantnurse said:

I think that many people are "fed up" with race and want to stop hearing about it because it doesn't affect them. In other words they can afford to ignore it. It's like telling a victim of abuse to get over it. It's a nice world of denial. Others were persecuted ELSEWHERE and came here to escape. What if they had to stay there and live after the persecution? What if you had to live in the house with your abuser forever and raise your kids with theirs? It isn't that simple. Someone said that they never got anything because of their skin color. How do you know that? You don't know your skin is an issue until you are refused something because of it. I didn't know that race mattered until I was five. It matterd then and know because this is America. A large part of this countrys history is rooted in white supremacy. The laws may have changed but peoples minds have not. If it were just ignorant rednecks you wouldn't have entire companies being sued for discrimination. And please spare me the rhetoric about another man with a white mother who went to Harvard being in the white house. If it was a change then why can't you find bullets anywhere? Because they have been SOLD OUT since the election. I love everyone and we are equal in Gods eyes. I don't work and live in a neighborhood with God. There is desire and reality. The two don't always meet. A 7 yo boy died in the ER because his parents insisted on waiting for a white doctor to come from the next county to treat their son. The mercedes and expensive clothes suggested that they weren't poor rednecks. I'm sure the excuses and long drawn out possible explanations are on their way to this thread.

WOW!. Praise God and pass the ammo!

?

[LockportRN]

gonzo1 said:

Your post was enlightening and has obviously opened up a "great" debate. I think it is wonderful when something gets us talking like this. Now, if only everyone would also listen.

I have worked in about 20 different ERs due to agency and travel jobs in the Chicago suburbs mostly. It is still rare for me to see an african american nurse. And I have never seen a male nurse of color.

All I can say is I hope there are more coming ASAP. We need the diversity. I want to live and work in a huge melting pot. It is way more interesting.

I once saw a white patient refuse to have a black nurse. She made a big mistake because the replacement nurse wasn't nearly as good a nurse. I also have seen many belligerent patients and family members call some of my favorite security people by racial slurs and all I can say is it breaks my heart.

Yes, it is wonderful to be able to open up and talk about this, but I just wonder where some of you live. I have been working with nurses of MANY other cultures my entire career although admittedly, the increase didn't really start for me (in the suburbs of chicago) until about 15 years ago and hasn't slowed down a bit thankfully!

[RN Randy]

I've lived and worked in:

Lexington, KY

Syracuse, NY

Sacramento, CA

Baltimore, MD

Grand Jct, CO

Charleston, WV

Jacksonville, FL

Sierra Vista, AZ

Toledo, OH

and a bunch of smaller places no one has heard of.

I've worked with people from Somalia to Australia, to Samoa.

I loved it, as I am always interested in other lands and cultures.

It's the native idiots I don't like. :)

[goodneighbor]

Wow. I'm sorry it's like this for you. I would feel sad if I felt really different than other people, and other prople treated me like an oddity in my job. I bet you feel like you have to prove yourself every day. What pressure! I am so glad the little girl was so happy to see you. Thank you for telling us. God bless you.

[Jasoninpa]

Pageantnurse,

Discrimination works both ways and is prevalent in every society in the world where there are various races. Living in a city with a heavy mix of blacks, whites, latinos, etc, I see it on a regular basis: blacks grouped with blacks, whites grouped with whites, and so on. In fact, black people further the mentality of "it's our tribe against their tribe" on a constant basis. You see this in the way that when you have two Democrats running against each other for president, both with basically the same policies, but one being white while the other is black, black people see almost only the color, and they vote for the black guy overwhelmingly. You see this in the way that many black people stereotype themselves, bragging about "this is the way we do it in the hood," calling each others the "n" word, staunchingly defending Obama because many of them see him as their own because of his being half-black, approving of Obama's job performance by 80% while the rest of the public approves of him by about 42%, etc. Even using the term "African American" to describe themselves comes from an "us-against-them" mentality; otherwise, why the moniker to differentiate them from everyone else? Are whites called "European Americans?" Rarely. We call ourselves Americans. And maybe black people should stop seeing a KKK hat behind every street corner. Of course injustices exist in society, but they exist everywhere in the world, and unfair things happen to people of every color on a regular basis. I think that all too often it becomes a cheap excuse for a black person to point the finger and call someone racist when something inexplicable happens to them; it's certainly far easier than having to look inward and reflect about one's own shortcoming.

And talking about racism, I as a white person have been the victim of several episodes of racism by black people. I have been walking down the street and had some young black thugs throw eggs at my feet. I have had a black person drive by and yell "whitey." I was harassed on a regular basis by a black manager at one of my jobs until I eventually quit. I have been robbed walking through town at night by two black guys, even being punched in the face, breaking a tooth. Racism works both ways, and black people (and all people) would be best served by this constant black vs. white mentality being put to rest.

Most white people are not racists. It just so happens that people tend to stick with people who look more like them, and who have personalities more similar to their own. Is it racist for blacks to congregate with each other? Then why is it "racist" for whites to want to stick together? Live and let live.

Blacks all too often say "we just want to be equal" when in fact many of their deeds and words indicate that this is only partly true, as other times they want more than equal rights. Affirmative action, an overly politically correct atmosphere, civil "rights" organizations that exist largely to bully white people into submission, threats of riots, etc, are not the fruits of a desire for equal rights. They are a desire for better-than-equal rights. And the evils of slavery are just an excuse being perpetually played to dupe into guilt those who neither owned slaves nor ever knew anyone who was a slave. I don't feel guilty at all for being white, or for the things done over a hundred years ago. I'm probably as equally proud of being white as you are of being black, and I'd dare say that that is more than fair and reasonable.

[Jasoninpa]

Regardless of race, the mindset to go out and become a nurse, a doctor, an attorney, has to be inculcated into the child from within the home first. It's nobody's fault if there are not more black nurses, male nurses, indian nurses. People are responsible for their own decisions, and everyone-- regardless of color-- has the opportunity. In fact, there are scholarship programs and employment practices that FAVOR for minorities to apply and be hired.

[Wishinonastar, BSN]

I really hope that all on this board who still have anger issues can let it go. As I said before we as a society have much bigger issues to overcome now. We have to think globally and forget about who might have predjudice against us because we are white, black, Indian, woman, gay, Catholic, or whatever demographics you can pin on us. EVERYBODY picks on nurses- can't we at least stick together against our shared enemies of abusive employers, pompous doctors, frivolous lawsuits, understaffing and overtime?