Patients and the race card

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I am a fairly new nurse and many of my co-workers have run into situations where a patient pulls the race card on them. This has not yet happened to me, but I'm sure with time it will.

Just wondering how others have handled this type of situation and how patients have reacted.

Thanks!

PS, you did say it was your co-workers who made this claim. You have my permission to tell them exactly what I said!!!!!

I should not have implied you personally felt this way.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical Orthopedic.

I think I would say something like:

"Race/ethnicity is not a factor we consider when answering call lights, however, I agree that you waited an unreasonable amount of time for your call light to be answered. Sometimes, I wish that there were three times as many people answering call lights on this floor. We would keep them very busy!"

And if they're not just frustrated and actually have a "core" issue that revolves around race, risk management should take things over.

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Perhaps the OP means a pt will say something like "If I white, I would get that XRay/CT scan/MRI faster". I have had pts say something like that to me.

I just respond that this hospital treats everyone exactly the same regardless of colour.

If that is what the OP means, I've got this to say -- and I say it not as a nurse (I'm a student), but as a human being.

I live in an area whose population has shocked me at times with blatantly negative attitudes. Not only in regards to race (there is a large Mexican migrant worker population here), but also in regards to homosexuals, Muslims, and women who have had abortions, among other groups.

I have heard people in a clinic waiting room say that a man who'd recently died had deserved AIDS because he was gay. I listened to a black woman in one of my prerequisite classes say that she wouldn't give CPR to a Hispanic, because she didn't want to take the chance that she was helping an illegal. I've heard a pastor say he'd never offer help to a woman who was open about having had an abortion. It comes in smaller comments too; I can't tell you how many off-the-cuff negative stereotypes people are careless about spewing from day to day.

If people are willing to say things like this in the open, I can only imagine what else is in their heads. I've been on the receiving end of a bad situation regarding my mixed heritage myself, and I can never automatically discount it when someone claims an instance of prejudice. What goes through people's mind influences how they behave, whether they want it to or not.

Is it always true when claimed? Of course not. Sometimes it's just frustration coming out. Sometimes it's not even that -- I don't argue that people do tell falsehoods for gain. It's a shame that it happens, especially because it masks a very real problem and devalues the situations of people for whom it is the honest truth.

All I can say is if you never want to be accused to behaving in a biased manner, then don't behave in one. So that if it ever comes up that someone claims you did, you can in all confidence tell the truth.

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Specializes in ER.

I was once called a "white devil." I had to go ask what the hell that was... this was said to me by a 3 year old girl. I was horrified. I think I posted this before a while back, but she was freaked out by my eye color!!! They are green. I didn't believe that kind of crap was actually still going on in this century! That was an rude awakening for me to the grips of some of the ignorant "twilight zone" southerners (this was my experience of where I was at the time)! I have lived in MANY MANY states and didn't experience anything like this until I lived in this place.... and this wasn't the only weird experience... It was a step back in time to me. I found it very sad, but what can you say to a child? nothing. I looked at that mom and wondered if she was embarrassed.

Then again, this area had some of the nicest, most thoughtful, and wonderful patients I have ever encountered - to this day. I have moved a few times since and wish I could see that same level of appreciation, respect, and genuine concern for each other that I experienced there. Most of the wonderful, amazing, impactful patients were not of the race that I am. I was shown more love on a daily basis (and offered hugs, food, and brought into families) than any other place I have ever been. That place was a true experience to understand how race played a part (and was brought up daily within this facility) in a small, somewhat forgotten, not so progressive town. This can lead into way more off topic discussions..... how age plays a part in race, in harmony, in balance in a community.... how respect for each other is paramount.... understanding compassion.... truly understanding the human journey. When a family of many knows you as their nurse and has seen you many times, walked with you through happiness and vast sadness, it bridges all gaps. It really does. It is an eye opener to work in a place that shakes and upsets the balance of what you might be used to. Everyone should try it, at least once.

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.

The OP is being honest...and let's face it, some of us have had patients pull the race card and this has happened to me twice already.

I won't say which racial minority group...because that is unimportant, but both times it has happened with the same ones.

These patients (I work in the NICU), were treated just like any of our other babies, but because the outcome wasn't what these mothers wanted (both babies were drug babies), they blamed it on the staff and said we were not taking the best care of their babies because they were .

It was beyond absurd...and it's funny, because OTHER minority groups, have praised the care we have given...except for this particular one. We personally, don't care who they are and the nurses never know if they are state-welfare recipients or if they are under traditional insurance...like they claim...I am too focused on the care of their baby to concern myself with how they are paying their medical bill...after all, it has ZERO effect on how I do my job.

But I am sick of it too...you show me someone that plays the race card and I'll show you someone who is their own problem...not their race.

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Specializes in Ortho trauma.

Sorry for those who I have offended. I have traveled to many countries to experience culture and meet people that are different from me. This is one of my passions in life to! I have volunteered in Liberia, Kenya, Cambodia, Tibet and the list continues.... I am minority group myself.

Saying this, I love my job and treat all my patients in an equal manner no matter race, ethnicity, etc.

Thanks to those such as Pepper the Cat and Orange Tree for providing positive constructive feedback!

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Two whole people from ? Well geez I guess that's enough data for us to reach a consensus on the issue. Next, it just so happens that every member of OTHER minority groups thinks your NICU is wonderful except those welfare druggies from . Wow, you've had quite a few people through your NICU considering that 25% or roughly 78-80 million people in the U.S.A are minorities. What's your nurse to patient ratio?

OP, how about accepting that most people have their prejudices, let it roll of your back like every other insult that nurses have to take at times, and focus on doing your job? I've been the recipient of non-minority patients from trying to pull the "race card" on me as well by claiming reverse discrimination because I work in an area with a high minority population and am a member of a . In general addicts are manipulative to the max and will use any weapon they have in their orificenal to deflect and distract from their behavior. Know how I handled it? I said uh that's not true and let's focus on the matter at hand here which is me YOUR NURSE providing YOU THE PATIENT with care...next. :uhoh3:

It was beyond absurd...and it's funny, because OTHER minority groups, have praised the care we have given...except for this particular one. We personally, don't care who they are and the nurses never know if they are state-welfare recipients or if they are under traditional insurance...like they claim...I am too focused on the care of their baby to concern myself with how they are paying their medical bill...after all, it has ZERO effect on how I do my job.

But I am sick of it too...you show me someone that plays the race card and I'll show you someone who is their own problem...not their race.

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I think "pulling the race card" is when a person of a minority race perceives that they have been under-served and their perceived lack of service is due to the fact that they are of a minority race. There are two possibly incorrect assumptions at work. The first is that there may not really be an incidence of under-service at all. The second is that although there may be an incidence of under-service, it may not be attributable to race. Matters of race can be very emotional for all parties involved as the accused usually believes that he or she has absolutely not discriminated against the accuser, and the accuser is usually absolutely convinced that the other party has definitively done so.

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I listened to a black woman in one of my prerequisite classes say that she wouldn't give CPR to a Hispanic, because she didn't want to take the chance that she was helping an illegal. I've heard a pastor say he'd never offer help to a woman who was open about having had an abortion.

Why did you identify the race of the black woman but not the pastor?

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Why did you identify the race of the black woman but not the pastor?

To highlight that racial back-and-forth isn't solely a black and white (pardon the pun) issue.

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I don't see how this post is offensive at all. Sorry, but it's time we call a spade a spade and realize that some people WILL use the "race card" or the "gender card" or the "any kind of card they can find" to see if they can make someone jump, and do what they want when they want. I work for a state office that deals with the GP all the time, and I can't tell you how many times I have been told that "If I was white, you would do so-and-so..." or "If I was a mother, or a female, you wouldn't do so-and-so to me...". Well I'm sick of it. I don't give a hoot what color someone is, or if they are male, female, what their religion is, etc. I care about how they treat me, and how they treat others. Now unfortunately, there will always be judgemental and frankly STUPID people who judge people by these factors.

To the OP, I am still pre-nursing, got a long way to go. But as I said, I deal with this kind of behavior all the time and I think its important to--politely as possible--let the person know that they will be treated the same as anyone else, and make sure that they understand that using any kind of agenda to get better treatment, will NOT be tolerated. And, as other posters said, I think in the medical field it should be important to remember that people are scared, hurting, etc. and sometimes they just say things they don't really mean.

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Specializes in Med Surg,.

:jester:I experience the stinking race card. It hurts like heel. I am a northern girl living the southern mentality. I have had clients refuse to have me care for them, I have been called the N word. I just cried. There is no way for certain to handle the stink. You can insist on caring for the buzzard but why bother slip em a mickie and keep it moving. LOL

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