Nursing school students problem.is it racism???

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Specializes in OR, Psychiatry, Public health, Medicine.

Disclamer- not intended to stir up any racial problems just need your opinions. Thanks

Hello everyone,

I am new on here. I will like everyone to shed some light on this issue.

I am a Bachelor's of science nursing student almost completing my degree (this year). just to make it clear. I am a minority student (black, indian, asian, arab). in my nursing school, most of the non minority (whites) student dont chat with we minorites, so we tend to chill together and say hi and bye to the non-minority any chance we get.

For group work, they dont do work with minorities. Everyone pair up with their friends or fellow non-minority. This makes it very difficult finding a group since there are few minorites. So, I decided to join a non-minority group for group work; my input was brushed to the side, the meeting times was never considerate with my availability knowing I go for clinicals at a different time of the day. This ends up translating to them reporting to the professor that I didnt work hard in the group, so i shouldnt be awarded any marks. How do i know this? after a group presentation I did with this people, my professor walked up to me and said my group members said I didnt input anything but from my presentation, she could see I understood/explained the concept very well. All this really discouraged me away from doing group work with non-minorities. Funny thing is, in class, i contribute alot, some know that i have high grades but still act that way.

Another thing that has been happening since the begining of nursing school. I really want someone to shed some (more) light into what am about to say. During clinical, minorities and non-minorities get along well, we talk, laugh, help each other and all. BUT, once we are in school, the non-minorites act like we have never met, even when you say "hi", they just ignore, frown, or never even try saying hello (90% of them). But when they need help they will message me on chat (messenger) for help. I want to understand this very well. Why act cool and nice in clinicals but once in school avoid me like a plague. I spoke to fellow minorities about all the above listed incident, they all said the same thing. This is so saddening that when i hear group work, i cringe and vow not to work in the hospital again since my location is filled with non-minorities in the hospital.

Sad thing is, you think someone is your friend but at the end they just act like u are an alien from another planet they have never seen in their life.. This are some of the things that made me not enjoy nursing school. Please respond since I will be done this year, I and some minorites have been surveying hospitals with lots of minority nurse to atleast make our first year of post grad experince transition smooth (i know even minorities cause problems for other minorities but thats a topic for another day).

Thanks in advance..

yours sincerely, finegirl

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i honestly can't say for sure if it's racism.

but i can understand why you'd get that impression.

when i was in school, there were a bunch of young, white, rich girls that hung together.

they blew everyone off, except 'their own kind'.

so whether it is outright snobbery or racism, take pity on them because either trait is ignorant.

and continue to conduct yourself with beneficence and class.

wishing you only the very best.

leslie

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Disclamer- not intended to stir up any racial problems just need your opinions. Thanks

Hello everyone,

I am new on here. I will like everyone to shed some light on this issue.

I am a Bachelor's of science nursing student almost completing my degree (this year). just to make it clear. I am a minority student (black, indian, asian, arab). in my nursing school, most of the non minority (whites) student dont chat with we minorites, so we tend to chill together and say hi and bye to the non-minority any chance we get.

For group work, they dont do work with minorities. Everyone pair up with their friends or fellow non-minority. This makes it very difficult finding a group since there are few minorites. So, I decided to join a non-minority group for group work; my input was brushed to the side, the meeting times was never considerate with my availability knowing I go for clinicals at a different time of the day. This ends up translating to them reporting to the professor that I didnt work hard in the group, so i shouldnt be awarded any marks. How do i know this? after a group presentation I did with this people, my professor walked up to me and said my group members said I didnt input anything but from my presentation, she could see I understood/explained the concept very well. All this really discouraged me away from doing group work with non-minorities. Funny thing is, in class, i contribute alot, some know that i have high grades but still act that way.

Another thing that has been happening since the begining of nursing school. I really want someone to shed some (more) light into what am about to say. During clinical, minorities and non-minorities get along well, we talk, laugh, help each other and all. BUT, once we are in school, the non-minorites act like we have never met, even when you say "hi", they just ignore, frown, or never even try saying hello (90% of them). But when they need help they will message me on chat (messenger) for help. I want to understand this very well. Why act cool and nice in clinicals but once in school avoid me like a plague. I spoke to fellow minorities about all the above listed incident, they all said the same thing. This is so saddening that when i hear group work, i cringe and vow not to work in the hospital again since my location is filled with non-minorities in the hospital.

Sad thing is, you think someone is your friend but at the end they just act like u are an alien from another planet they have never seen in their life.. This are some of the things that made me not enjoy nursing school. Please respond since I will be done this year, I and some minorites have been surveying hospitals with lots of minority nurse to atleast make our first year of post grad experince transition smooth (i know even minorities cause problems for other minorities but thats a topic for another day).

Thanks in advance..

yours sincerely, finegirl

Hello!

So what your experiencing may or may not be due to racism. In every program im sure there are the little cliques that stick together and it may just be that they are just sticking to their own. I see why you think it may be racism because of the fact that they ignore you at school but just think of what you have accomplished and what you will acomplish once you graduate. Think of it this way, life is what you make it, and sometimes people make it hard for you to get where you want to go. But, just worry about yourself and dont worry about people who want to bring you down...you cant really prove its racism unless they have said something to you in regards to your race and you've had a witness so I would hold off on reporting them to your instructor. Good luck to you and I know how it feels to have those feelings.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Since I am a black female, I am also a minority.

However, your identity should be formed and molded by now, since I assume that you are an adult. You are placing entirely too much emphasis on receiving acknowledgment from the "non minority" people. If these classmates don't acknowledge you in all settings, it's okay, because you are not in school to make friends anyway.

As much as this issue disturbs you, please keep in mind that the "non minority" people in your school are not losing one single minute of sleep over you. Keep striving to be the best student that you can be. Don't work oneself up over silly peer relations. Focus on the prize at the end of the rainbow, which is your degree. Stop worrying about decoding other peoples' behavior patterns, since this is something that immature high school kids do.

Their behavior might be motivated by one of many things: snootiness, jealousy, disdain, racism, ageism, immaturity, social ineptitude, insecurity, cliquishness, or poor interpersonal skills. You'll never know unless you tactfully ask.

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I am a white male (MINORITY in nursing) and work with a very diverse group of nurses in my ICU......black male RN, asian, etc. etc. I have never experienced what you are saying whatsoever. Most nurses, nursing students, and instructors are respectful and mindful to all of us. We did have a black LPN student who acted like she was entitled and better than most of the white students, though we all were in the same class, but other than that its been pretty positive. I think its really a matter of perception/attitude most of the time.

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In my experience,(I am a white female) certain people will always find a way to exclude SOMEONE, for whatever reason they can find (the reason for exclusion was poverty for me). I am from a neighborhood predominantly Mexican American, so I can talk to just about anybody. But there are some who have never really been around people of other races and dont know how to deal with these situations. TheCommuter is ABSOLUTELY right, even when you have your degree with a high GPA, they will find a way to treat you like crap. YOu know who YOU are thats all that matters.

These kind of people are idiots and they really dont matter in the scheme of things. Good Luck.

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You are not there to make friends. Do your work, and dont' worry what everyone else thinks. Everybody feels excluded at some point, whether they are "minority" or not.

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I myself am romanian/native american so nobody ever knows where to "tag" me. I see both sides of this in my school....at my school it really seems to go both ways. It still stuns me some of the stupid things that are done/said on both sides as I wasn't raised that way at all!

My plan is to do my thing! I'm there for an education not to make friends....if I do along the way then it's a bonus but, it's not what I'm there for.

Do your thing & keep kicking butt ;)

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Specializes in Emergency Dept. Trauma. Pediatrics.

I agree with Leslie, I am not sure if it's BECAUSE you are a minority but they might just not willing to branch out from their cliques unless it can be useful to them. Which isn't any better. Some people might just automatically assume they will have nothing in common with someone else and so on and never give that chance again unless it can help them.

All you can do is learn from it and never be that way. Next time you see someone that doesn't seem to "fit in" or people seem to just disregard, reach out to them. This is the type of person I have always been. Some people are so shocked when they meet some of my friends just from the physical appearance. I am a minority myself but most people can't tell. I would say 75% of the people I know can't tell just from looking at me. But a lot of my friends fit the minority category in some shape of form. Not just color but one friend is totally rocker and tats all over (I don't listen to any of the same music) but I love her dearly. Or my friend is the only gay person we worked with. Or only gay person people knew about. So not just minorities in color.

We just started a new class, we lost 5 students and gained 1. I made it a point to go and talk to the new girl because I knew how out of place she would feel since all of us have had our friends and stuff formed since first semester and she was coming in mid second semester.

So anyway, you have to tell yourself it's their loss if they aren't giving you a chance and probably not the type of friends you want to have anyway and make sure you never find yourself doing the same things. Sometimes minorities can also be so use to not having people be very accepting and end up excluding themselves as well without realizing it.

I hope things get better :)

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Specializes in OR, Psychiatry, Public health, Medicine.

Thanks everyone...you sure have shed light into the issue..now i know better

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Just try to enjoy the friends you have and get a good education. Thats what you are there to do. People try to just survive nursing school and sometimes they cant appear to be mean and snotty, but in reality they are probably just stressed and scared. There will always be cliques wherever you go. Even for us non-minority people :)

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So where in Canada do you live?

I used to live in Vancouver and as a Canadian of European origin often felt I was the visible minority. I moved to the Prairies and was made to feel an outsider because I wasn't of Ukranian heritage. I travelled a lot in the US last year and never thought twice about whose table I joined at conventions, etc. But I did notice a difference in service when I joined a woman of colours table. We spent a couple of minutes trying to figure out if she was ignoring us out of spite and then we realized there was only two waitresses in a busy dining room with over 50 people on a Sunday.

When I attented nursing school, I was a mother over 40. There was only three other women in my class that had a similar background. So there was me, a woman of Somali origin and a First Nations person. We had to form our own little clique because for the first semester we were the outcasts. Knew our stuff, persevered and graduated. I don't see any of my "group" because we all went to different hospitals. Gradually, the "others" saw us not as a threat, not as their mothers but as fellow students. They didn't have to like us.

I still see the young, "cool" ones and get the odd nod. It's like others said you go to school for your education NOT to make friendships.

My colouring makes many think I'm Metis or Eurasian. So, I'm not that easy to slot. But I'm tired of people thinking the world is racist. People just don't like stepping out of their comfort zone, making new friends, wondering what their old friends will think of their new one.

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