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Discussion

Prejudice in Nursing

Hello,

I have been working as a registered Nurse for six months now and cannot help but recognize that people consistently pre-judge me. I am a young African American female and multiple times during my shifts people assume that I am a CNA. The state came to our facility and they also assumed that I was a LPN.

There is a white new graduate nurse who got promoted to nurse supervisor a month after working at my facility. She has an associate degree while I'm attending an ivy league nursing school to obtain my BSN.

I'm just wondering if there are other nurses out there who experience prejudice in nursing.

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I'm white and an RN. People assume the same thing of me...until they see my rank and realize that I'm older than I look.

Unless you can read the minds of those around you, you have no idea what they're basing their assumption on.

Ask what the assumption is. Most likely not race related.

  • Experts

I agree that the prejudice is probably not race related, but more likely is not only your age but how young you look. I have never looked my age and still don't. Now it's great but for most of my life, it was a pain in the neck and sometimes a real hindrance. I was regularly assumed to be an aide or LPN, when, in fact, I had a masters degree.

Sometimes all you can do is grit your teeth, suck it up, and remind yourself that you won't always be or look this young. In no way am I saying that you should just endure outright racial slurs. Not at all. What I am saying is that you should not automatically assume any perceived slight is based on your skin color.

One of the things that made me the maddest when I was your age, wasn't work-related. I was about halfway through grad school and was filling out a form for a supermarket check cashing card. The store manager came up behind me, grabbed the half completed form and asked me, "Does your mother know you're planning to leave home, young lady?" It took all the self control I could muster up, but I told him calmly that I was 22, my mother lived 1,000 away, I was employed at ____, and did he have any further questions?

That shut him up. Keep your cool and as people get to know you and the excellent quality of you work, attitudes will change. Some things just take time.

  • Experts

Worked with a nurse of color in a LTC facility one time. Of course, the residents were of a generation older than both of us. Sometimes they would say things that were clearly based on the perceptions of race more accurately attributed to their generation. One of these comments was made one time to me, obviously with the assumption that I would agree with the speaker. I, like in other instances, said something in defense of the other nurse that happened to be politically correct. The older man was somewhat taken aback. Unfortunately, the comment was not true (it was something negative about the other nurse's work habits); but I was not going to let him know that. I was uncomfortable all the way around, but only did what made for a better workplace. I felt the man would have been more ill at ease if I had agreed with his negative assessment and race had nothing to do with it, in spite of his assumptions. Sometimes you just don't know why people have the opinions that they do.

I've experienced nepotism more than racism; it does occur in the most insidious ways; sometimes the institutional "preference" got in the way at a particular place I worked before, until a "preference" got my employer a lawsuit.

In the past few years, I have seen a more diverse workforce, and I do prefer to see a much more diverse workforce of nurses where I work; it just depends on whether a place has a "community" bubble factor in place; you still have control of your career and destiny in this business; you still have the power to have success. :yes:

Hello,

I have been working as a registered Nurse for six months now and cannot help but recognize that people consistently pre-judge me. I am a young African American female and multiple times during my shifts people assume that I am a CNA. The state came to our facility and they also assumed that I was a LPN.

There is a white new graduate nurse who got promoted to nurse supervisor a month after working at my facility. She has an associate degree while I’m attending an ivy league nursing school to obtain my BSN.

I’m just wondering if there are other nurses out there who experience prejudice in nursing.

YUP!!! Been a nurse since i was 20! And if dont NOBODY understand what you maybe feeling, I DO!!! It still exist......

I'm a white male and MDs are frequently mistaking me as some doctor. Not that I'm offended by it, but it clearly shows that there's profound race bias out there.

My peds rotation was in a facility where all of the nurses were white (with 1 exception) and all of the CNAs were African (mostly Cape Verdean). I was one of 2 black nursing students in my group, and no one believed we were nursing students, despite our name tags and uniforms that said "student nurse".

I'm mixed & there are plenty of diversity at my hospital. I've never had an issue with race and there are many nurses, Dr's, RT's & Techs of color at my facility.

Unfortunately, it is everywhere. Health care is not immune. It isn't much consolation to know that your non-Caucasian physician colleagues have to deal with it as well. It should improve somewhat as you get older and begin to carry yourself with that certain grace and confidence that comes with experience. Good luck.

Hello,

I have been working as a registered Nurse for six months now and cannot help but recognize that people consistently pre-judge me. I am a young African American female and multiple times during my shifts people assume that I am a CNA. The state came to our facility and they also assumed that I was a LPN.

There is a white new graduate nurse who got promoted to nurse supervisor a month after working at my facility. She has an associate degree while I’m attending an ivy league nursing school to obtain my BSN.

I’m just wondering if there are other nurses out there who experience prejudice in nursing.

Lol, prejudice isn't only about ethnic background. You realize your own post reeked of prejudice. You assume that this nurse with an associates is advancing because she is white? So, what? An associates level nurse can't be competent? It must just be because of the colour of get skin.

God, people have just gotten so conditioned to make mountains out of molehills, to see prejudice and racism where none exists. Seriously, people need to relax and stop looking for reasons to be offended.

Oh, and to add, this mentality had really been a double edged sword. Where I currently work, not ONE SINGLE TIME have I seen any instances of AA people get discriminated against or treated badly because of the colour of their skin. Want to ask how many times I've had patients refer to me as 'the stupid white nurse' because I didn't bend to their every whim? Think any of those times had negative repercussions on the patient? Think the media was called because of my being treated badly because I'm white?

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