Hey guys! I am a NP in the Dallas area with about 3 years of experience. I absolutely love the field of hospice and palliative care, and including my RN experience, have been happily employed in the field for about 6 years.
Throughout my work, I have experienced what many of you may have, the not so good effects of the "healthcare hierarchy." You know, where physicians believe they are superior to other members of the healthcare team...RNs superior to LVNs....NPs superior to RNs...the whole nonsense. I have been portrayed as incompetent or a "MD wannabee" by physicians, but also as "stuck up" by other nurses. I am an African-American female, and sadly, most of the judgement and harsh treatment stemmed from other African-American individuals. I am a HUGE advocate of each member of the healthcare team being supportive of one another, being leaders, fostering growth, and just rooting for everyone to reach their highest potential.
As a result, I have created a Facebook group where healthcare professionals, regardless of their role, can collaborate, network, chit chat, and be supportive of one another. If it is of interest, the group is called Minority Healthcare Professionals. The original intent was to bridge together the minority community, where I and many other colleagues, have experienced the most lack of professional support. But, I'm thinking about making it accessible to all healthcare providers in general, as I believe it would allow many more people to benefit. What are you all's thoughts? I hope I am not being offensive, or making generalizations. This has just been my personal experience for several years now, and I'd really like to impact the minority community in a positive light. Thanks for the feedback.