Patients and the race card

[CanadaEh]

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!

[leslie :-D]

Yes, race can be used as a blatant attempt to manipulate a situation ... at times.

And yes, race can be an unspoken negative factor in the way some people are treated ... at times.

ok heron, i get what you're saying.

that sometimes it's the race card, and other times it really is the caregiver being racist.

i'll agree with that.

my contention was against those who were seemingly shocked and appalled that it was even suggested.

that "we" are always professional, 'above that', and it just doesn't happen.

we know what a crock that is.

but i definitely agree that all need to be truthful w/themselves and ea other.

leslie

[pinksugar]

I want to add that I realize that there are some situations where race does come into play. As a professional nurse I would take any type of racism against any patient very seriously. That is not what we signed on for - we signed on to treat all patients humanely regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. I have never seen racism come from a doctor or nurse, though - it usually comes from the patients themselves. Just the other day I had a patient that complained to me that she thought that her other nurse was 'short' with her because she was racist - in reality that nurse is short with everyone (a whole different thread), and she also has a mixed race child, so she isn't a racist, she just has a poor bedside manner. Everything isn't always about race.

[Mike A. Fungin RN]

CanadaEh,

I think it was brave of you to ask the nurses on this forum how to handle that kind of behavior, despite probably knowing full well that many here would use it as an opportunity to get on their soap boxes.

Some patients and their family members do accuse nurses of treating them differently because of their race, gender, age, poverty, sexual orientation, medical history, etc. That's the reality and it can be intimidating, especially for a new nurse.

I was happy to see that some people actually answered your question.

[MassED, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure who Kanye is, so the comparison's unfortunately lost. I really don't, however, see a line between a long-weary struggle with racial identity and whether people are stupid or not.

I'm in major agreement with what Julian Bond said in 1999, that the biggest social issue facing the United States in the next century would be the breakdown of racial lines. As a mixed child I was ostracized in school because of the way I was raised -- not identifying with one "race" over another so much as with the individuals of my family.

The social ramifications of not conforming to expected behaviors are stiff. It may not seem like it looking in. While I do hope one day racial lines as we know it blend away, it's going to take a lot longer than we want to demand.

Anyway, how off-topic was that. Uh, back to OP's post.

well you certainly aren't missing anything by not knowing who Kanye West is.... it's unfortunate that I know who he is, mainly because of his Katrina comments.

[OttawaRPN]

A question for all of you...

I worked with an HCA once who, from her very first day of work, was an all around bad and miserable worker. Sleeping on the job, taking extra long breaks, not pulling her weight in patient care, improperly transferring etc., the list goes on. She had been suspended several times and management had been trying to get rid of her forever however, each time a disciplinary issue comes up she complains they're only trying to get rid of her because she's black. The union had been able to save her at least a dozen times. This has been going on for about 3 years and she still works there.

So, has she been playing the race card?

[MassED, BSN, RN]

[/b][/b]

Personally, I have never been to Somali. The husband has. He and his medic buddies have been in hospitals in Mogadishu, rural Afghanistan, and rural Bosnia. My husband who isn't a nurse has pulled shifts in abanded psychiatric hospitals outside Sarajevo when the staff fled in the 1990s.

To expect hospitals in a country that is host to refugees from around the globe (hell, we even have Americans try to claim refugee status here) to provide food to patients visitors is purely unreasonable.

My son's best friend is Somali. This child's mother is a Doctor. She's worked for Doctor's Without Borders, so I only have the related tales from people who have worked in these places.

on a sidenote, I deal with a Somalian interpretor who was a "doctor" in Somalia. He knows NOTHING about medicine, as we know in the western world. Nothing.

[Scrubby]

There is someone at my work who is quite frankly dead weight. She is that bad that she cannot circulate on her own despite the fact she's been in the OR for a long time and we can't get rid of her because firing someone in Australia is not easy. If someone makes a complaint about her they are always a 'racist'. It doesn't matter that she constantly makes the same error over and over. One day I had to speak to her because she kept making mistake after mistake and this was creating a lot of stress for the team. She told me I was racist and she would report me. I informed this nurse that she's free to complain about me, however if she cannot back up her claims that I was racist to her then I would go the full hog and have her up for defamation of character. She looked confused and I explained to her that you cannot go around accusing people of things without proof, and that there are laws to protect people from slander. She hasn't pulled the race card on me since and not on anyone else either.

[MassED, BSN, RN]

Well, I can't say anyone has pulled the race card, but as a white older female, I will have to be honest and say I have encountered some pretty bad reverse discrimination from SOME african-Americans from time to time, and it hurt. I feel that some segments of this group sadly lately seem to harbor a lot of resentment towards whites, and I DO feel our current administration has set our country back in terms of racial relations. Anyone here can flame me away for this -- I will still say it's true. I've been stared at sort of strangely by some muslims, and they tend to make odd requests .... but never treated poorly by them. I've always enjoyed taking care of hispanics, as they are always very appreciative and sweet (although I do not agree w/ those who are here illegally).

That said, I have ALSO been treated very well by members of the AA race -- with no problems whatsoever. I've had cute little AA ladies who've knitted me socks and slippers, given me hugs, prayers, smiles etc, ultra sweet AA older men who are just as easy going as all be. It just all depends on the person and the family I always say. I simply love taking care of little old asian ladies ..they and their families are just so sweet and undemanding.

Indians are ok ...they are very family oriented and tend to hover and fret over their elders. I had to laugh when one of our indian patients took to chanting very loudly on our floor for HOURS ... didn't go too well w/ her white American roommate ...

I was told last week by the family that since I was unable to get the blood of an AA gentleman, that maybe they needed a nurse who "knew how to draw blood from dark skin." I just laughed and got an AA nurse to try it -- turned out she didn't have any luck either because he was elderly and just had very collapsing veins. Still, that mindset was there ... had someone said that in reverse, though -- it would have sounded quite racist.

I don't enjoy taking care of drug users OR drunks from any race, white, black, purple or green. However, I have gotten along famously w/ several AA AND WHITE men who were drug users ...as long as I brought their dilaudid in on time.

Wacky people are wacky ...they can come from ANY race or ethnic background. There is just no logical way I can generalize how anyone will behave. Older white little ladies are some of the meanest little cusses on earth . . . as are older white males ... and then again, they can be angels.

It just all depends ...really. As far as gay men go I find them ok, but their partners tend to be very protective and anxious about them. I had one gay couple who started out great and then by the end of the day one of them was red in the face and stomping his feet at me, he was so angry. But was it because he was gay? No -- he just had a bad temper.

Again, I just don't feel behavior is due to their race, ethnicity or sexual orientation in general. It's more about family, temperament, and upbringing.

I agree with much of what you wrote, but know you'll likely be flamed for it. You write the truth. I don't like to generalize on cultural differences, but cultures DO have their differences and it's nice to be aware and know ahead of time how they differ from yours so they don't interfere in nursing care.

:thankya:

[SharonH, RN]

A question for all of you...

I worked with an HCA once who, from her very first day of work, was an all around bad and miserable worker. Sleeping on the job, taking extra long breaks, not pulling her weight in patient care, improperly transferring etc., the list goes on. She had been suspended several times and management had been trying to get rid of her forever however, each time a disciplinary issue comes up she complains they're only trying to get rid of her because she's black. The union had been able to save her at least a dozen times. This has been going on for about 3 years and she still works there.

So, has she been playing the race card?

If we start with that, this discussion could devolve very quickly because everyone has an example of someone they know "playing the race card". That would serve no purpose, now would it?

[MassED, BSN, RN]

A question for all of you...

I worked with an HCA once who, from her very first day of work, was an all around bad and miserable worker. Sleeping on the job, taking extra long breaks, not pulling her weight in patient care, improperly transferring etc., the list goes on. She had been suspended several times and management had been trying to get rid of her forever however, each time a disciplinary issue comes up she complains they're only trying to get rid of her because she's black. The union had been able to save her at least a dozen times. This has been going on for about 3 years and she still works there.

So, has she been playing the race card?

unions protect all. Good and bad nurses. Therein lies the bad side of unions.

[OttawaRPN]

If we start with that, this discussion could devolve very quickly because everyone has an example of someone they know "playing the race card". That would serve no purpose, now would it?

Previous posters mentioned the use of race as discriminating factors and my on-topic post was no different.

[heron, ASN, RN]

A question for all of you...

I worked with an HCA once who, from her very first day of work, was an all around bad and miserable worker. Sleeping on the job, taking extra long breaks, not pulling her weight in patient care, improperly transferring etc., the list goes on. She had been suspended several times and management had been trying to get rid of her forever however, each time a disciplinary issue comes up she complains they're only trying to get rid of her because she's black. The union had been able to save her at least a dozen times. This has been going on for about 3 years and she still works there.

So, has she been playing the race card?

You're asking us to magically divine her motivation. How can we do that??? Having been in a number of unions, I know that most contracts include work rules that both management and labor have to follow, including a process for progressive discipline and termination. Every time I read about unions "saving" bad workers, I tend to wonder whether managers are doing their jobs and documenting properly.

IOW, there's no way to know whether this worker is manipulating the situation or she can actually prove her assertions ... if she can't, then management needs to stop running scared and do what they need to do. The worst that can happen is a lawsuit and if they're on the side of the angels then they have nothing to worry about.