Nursing school students problem.is it racism???

[finegirl]

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

[justashooter]

an interesting thread, for sure.

it is part of the human nature to categorise people we meet, and to create "insider" and "outsider" groups. anyone who claims that they don't is only lying to themselves. we assign to those groups prejudice (pre-judgement) on basis of experiences we have had with similar subjects. this is not only reasonable, but also wise, in consideration of statistical probability. it is only in this generation that such reasonable activity is vilified.

something i noticed in the OP of the thread that has not yet been commented on is that the op has difficulty with written english. perhaps they are a native hindi speaker. such difficulty is natural in spoken form, as english and hindi are not similar. in any case, if they wish to be part of the "in-group" they need to work on their written and (probably) oral english. last i checked, this is America, and people who immigrate here are more likely to succeed if they become truely fluent english speakers, rather than just marginally fluent.

[jmeng]

something i noticed in the OP of the thread that has not yet been commented on is that the op has difficulty with written english. perhaps they are a native hindi speaker. such difficulty is natural in spoken form, as english and hindi are not similar. in any case, if they wish to be part of the "in-group" they need to work on their written and (probably) oral english. last i checked, this is America, and people who immigrate here are more likely to succeed if they become truely fluent english speakers, rather than just marginally fluent.

LOL that was funny. reason why racism still exists!!

[AddisonLawrence03]

an interesting thread, for sure.

it is part of the human nature to categorise people we meet, and to create "insider" and "outsider" groups. anyone who claims that they don't is only lying to themselves. we assign to those groups prejudice (pre-judgement) on basis of experiences we have had with similar subjects. this is not only reasonable, but also wise, in consideration of statistical probability. it is only in this generation that such reasonable activity is vilified.

something i noticed in the OP of the thread that has not yet been commented on is that the op has difficulty with written english. perhaps they are a native hindi speaker. such difficulty is natural in spoken form, as english and hindi are not similar. in any case, if they wish to be part of the "in-group" they need to work on their written and (probably) oral english. last i checked, this is America, and people who immigrate here are more likely to succeed if they become truely fluent english speakers, rather than just marginally fluent.

Categorizing people and placing them as 'outsiders' is fine if you are always the 'insider' and never made to feel alienated. If you were made to be the outsider one would be singing an entirely different tune

[cogath]

This may be slightly off topic, but I am NOT "white." By grouping what you call all "non-minority" students together, you are putting cultures as different as Greeks and Finnish and English into the same category, and in my opinion THAT is racism. Although my skin color is "white," I am an immigrant to this country, as is my family, and that puts me into a minority group. I never fit in when I was young because of cultural differences betweens Americans & my family's culture, and I still feel these effects. And if you told my family that you were lumping them with the same group of people as say the French, they would be disgusted (no offense to any French people, I have not qualms against them but they are not well-liked in my cultural group).

So you need to take a look at your own beliefs and see that we are all culturally diverse, and you can't just lump us all together. My ancestors were polytheists and sailors and mighty warriors.

[Poi Dog]

My grandmother used to repeat often an old quote "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." There is no way to determine what is in someone's heart, and even if they are racist, it is their own stupidity that drives it. However, they may just be completely oblivious to anyone of any race other than their own little group.

In either case, those that are worth the trouble will be your friend and enjoy you based on who you are, not on what color your skin is. The important thing is to focus on your own value as a person, and not let anyone else indicate otherwise, either by their omission of including you or by overt racism. Look towards being the better person, continuing to be friendly to those who are receptive and continuing acting with class. There are many people who look for exactly those qualities in a friend. I know I do! If they don't value your attempts to work together and to form friendships, it is their loss. You have done your best to be open and approachable.

I :redbeathe that quote from your Grandma! She sounds like a wise woman.

I am one who buys into the "You are not there to make friends." Why? Because the end goal of getting a degree/education/paycheck/whatever is more important to me. While having friends is nice, it is just is not high on my list of priorities.

To the OP: don't lose your focus. Keep focused on your goal with a smile on your face. Don't let the negative Nancy's occupy any space in your head. They are not worthy to be there.

Best of luck to you!

[DolceVita, ADN, BSN, RN]

Did I really read in this thread that a white male called himself a minority? Oh well at east I got a laugh this morning.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

This thread has been closed for review.