I'm a bit late but I'd thought I'd chime in. I've been an LPN for two years. I've worked in home health and the facility for a very short time. People often mistake me for an aide because I look young. I was almost 25 when I started working as a nurse, though most of my class was younger than me. I really think that people don't expect young, black females to be nurses, which is sad. And I've not met any other young black female nurses either. I honestly think that the combination of these things have called people to question my judgement or not trust me.
At my current home health agency I did have an older, white woman that was racist. When I talked to her on the phone, she was friendly. And I speak really proper too. When I first met her in person she was still friendly but it didn't take long before she started talking down to me. She had also told me that most of the cases were too hard for me except the one starting in two weeks. It was a red flag because at my last agency as soon as I had finished orientation I had no trouble finding work immediately.
I remained because I had relocated and really wanted to be in the city. As time went on this supervisor did not get me. She often made a huge deal out of things. When I got my CPR renewed she had tried to tell me that the agency wasn't Red Cross certified (it definitely was) and I was close to being suspended for not having a renewed CPR over that crap. I had to have the CPR instructor call her and have a long chat. When my client was given a new order signed from the Dr. to be put in the care plan, she argued with me over it. When she did a supervisory visit for 4 hours with me and my client she didn't pay attention, was extremely disorganized and rude. She also snapped at me for trivial things. Christmas time I ended up working extra shifts. This woman spent hours harassing me via text. I nearly blocked her.
She was a horrible human being. The other nurse, not black and slightly older, did not receive the same treatment as me. However, my old supervisor was hated by all her clients and their families. I remember talking to a friend about her and she suspected she was being racist. It was difficult for me to accept at first but it was hard to ignore the signs. I took a lyft one day, and the driver also agreed.
She was eventually fired and apparently treated other black staff similarly. Another black nurse that worked for my same agency had to go to the hospital and was threatened for taking time off for that. Different person, but I truly believe more than one staff had some issues.
I happen to live in one of the major cities and was really surprised that staff there weren't as progressive as you would believe.
Edit: when my supervisor was fired and replaced, the newer and nicer supervisor revealed to me that my old supervisor had said horrible things about me and that I looked too young to be a nurse. Also my pay was apparently screwed up. I left my agency because things went south with a case and I am moving to a new town.
