What in the world are we supposed to do when a patient makes it known that they "don't want any nurses of color taking care of them"?
There was a patient on my unit last week who mentioned this (I have no idea who she told this to, administration, the doctors, I have no idea who she notified). She was in her 20s and was not on the unit for mental illness issues at all, she had an OBGYN related surgery and was not under any sedative medications, she was able-bodied with full mental capacity! Thank goodness for the patient none of the nurses (all of whom but 2 out of 50-something nurses are people of color) knew about this patient's odd request until she was discharged from the hospital.
What I really wanted to do and say were unprofessional. What are we supposed to do when someone comes to hospital with this request?
Nurses take so much crap from patients to the extent that they (pts) feel entitled to any kind of behaviour. Please remind them that we were human before we became nurses.
This part made me smile....my mind immediately went to "well, what are we now that we're nurses, if not human? Robotrons?'" :)
"we informed the patient that this kind of behavior was not tolerated and he was welcome to leave and seek health care elsewhere. This should be the normal way to deal with this!" midwife2002
I was thinking the same thing madwife2002! that should never be tolerated on a level in any healthcare facility! How is that accommodating a racist patient so openly serves the greater good of humankind? A stand needs to be taken at these facilities and let all patients know that any type of racial discrimination will not be tolerated.
Wow, that's a tough one! Where I live, in Ontario Canada, (and work) we are multi-cultural and live and work fairly well in that environment. However, we don't support racism, which is how I would interpret the request that this patient made. I would expect that the nurse manager would represent the nursing body, and speak to the patient (advocate on behalf of the nurses) and state that all of the nurses are trained professionals, irregardless of race, creed or religion. I truly hope the mgt. did step up and advocate on behalf of the staff, in the event that an issue like this comes up again, so that the staff will know where they stand.
Thank goodness that in most of America this type of attitude is becoming less and less common. I can remember whenI was young, this type of attitude wasn't seen as a negative in any way. It was treated the same way as some people like tea and others like coffee...
I look at where we have been in my lifetime, where we are now, and I have hope for the future.
It's a shame the hospital isn't able to hire a pool of blond haired, blue eyed, new grads just a few days after passing NCLEX. Just as there are med-surg floats, and critical care floats, these fresh green nurses could be "patient preference" floats. I think having nothing but the greenest new grads take care of these patients would do a great deal to ensure natural selection was given an opportunity to kick in. Unfortunately hireing practices can't be that biased- but I can dream.
Specializes in Emergency Room, Specialty Infusions.
What in the world are we supposed to do when a patient makes it known that they "don't want any nurses of color taking care of them"?
There was a patient on my unit last week who mentioned this (I have no idea who she told this to, administration, the doctors, I have no idea who she notified). She was in her 20s and was not on the unit for mental illness issues at all, she had an OBGYN related surgery and was not under any sedative medications, she was able-bodied with full mental capacity! Thank goodness for the patient none of the nurses (all of whom but 2 out of 50-something nurses are people of color) knew about this patient's odd request until she was discharged from the hospital.
What I really wanted to do and say were unprofessional. What are we supposed to do when someone comes to hospital with this request?
Might be one of the problems with society today. Everyone is entitled and every body has rights. I agree with the other posters. She could have taken her business elsewhere, or hired her own private duty nurses in what ever color she wished. She should have the right to do that.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
long ago (a couple of decades) and far away, a rather well-known (in the community anyway) white supremacist done fell out at his compound. he was unresponsive when he arrived at out hospital, and the cardiologist on call assumed his care. turns out the guy needed emergent cardiac surgery and the surgeon on call took him to the or. when the guy woke up from surgery, he was dismayed to find that the cardiologist was jewish and the surgeon arabic. nevertheless, he was quite respectful for the duration of his hospitalization. (which probably shows that even white supremacists are capable of intelligent thought sometimes.) some of his "followers" had a little difficulty with things, but they were strongly encouraged not to visit. (back then, we could do that.) after he was discharged, he went back to hating.
i was the blonde nurse -- one of his favorites. (even that long ago, many of our icu nurses were male and as we all "knew" in those days, all male nurses were gay. or maybe it was that it wasn't as thrilling to whip out your member and show it to another guy.) caring for the guy was rather entertaining, but as the only blonde nurse in the unit i must say i wish i could have had a break from the jackass some of the time!
i completely sympathize with the black nurse who would rather not take care of the racist spewing nonsense about "n*****s" or the vietnamese nurse who doesn't want to hear about the "chinks" who tortured a guy when he was a pow in vietnam. but i don't want to take care of him, either. nor do i want to take care of all of the white supremacists, racists, former pows, former rape victims, etc. who don't want a nurse of color, a male or a lesbian taking care of them. perhaps we could all share the wealth. maybe the white supremacist would learn to get along with a male nurse and the former pow could work with a black nurse. or maybe we could just tell patients that they have a right to refuse health care from anyone they choose, but they cannot order up a caregiver along racial or gender lines, so they take what they get or go elsewhere.
This is why zero tolerance is so fabulous. If the patient makes their prejudices known, they are asked to leave, no ifs, buts or maybes. Racism is a fundamental problem of ignorance and social history and the only way to move forward is to shut it down altogether. I understand that this is a very complicated issue and there are no easy answers, but it really should be simple. A precedent must be set. If the patient is refused treatment, concerns regarding nurses' safety, license and working environment do not become an issue. If the patient is allowed to stay, staffmembers subjected to this kind of hatred are working under duress which is simply unacceptable. Even if they are not the primary nurse / clinician, they are in the line of fire and indirectly under threat. We have a right to work without fear of abuse from our patients, racial discrimination, false accusations and personal attacks. We have the right to object to risking our registration and career. Refuse care, no discussion. In critical situations, discretion lies with the primary clinician. Our hospital policy has a very specific outline regarding discrimination and cultural consideration, not to mention the rights of the worker. People can usually only justify their mentality when others agree, if (in utopia) nobody will tolerate, accomodate or share an opinion based on hatred and ignorance, individuals will simply have to adjust their attitude. Most cowards won't speak up unless there is a herd to back them up.
This is why zero tolerance is so fabulous. If the patient makes their prejudices known, they are asked to leave, no ifs, buts or maybes. Racism is a fundamental problem of ignorance and social history and the only way to move forward is to shut it down altogether. I understand that this is a very complicated issue and there are no easy answers, but it really should be simple. A precedent must be set. If the patient is refused treatment, concerns regarding nurses' safety, license and working environment do not become an issue. If the patient is allowed to stay, staffmembers subjected to this kind of hatred are working under duress which is simply unacceptable. Even if they are not the primary nurse / clinician, they are in the line of fire and indirectly under threat. We have a right to work without fear of abuse from our patients, racial discrimination, false accusations and personal attacks. We have the right to object to risking our registration and career. Refuse care, no discussion. In critical situations, discretion lies with the primary clinician. Our hospital policy has a very specific outline regarding discrimination and cultural consideration, not to mention the rights of the worker. People can usually only justify their mentality when others agree, if (in utopia) nobody will tolerate, accomodate or share an opinion based on hatred and ignorance, individuals will simply have to adjust their attitude. Most cowards won't speak up unless there is a herd to back them up.
Refuse care based on someone's prejudices? After the ACLU and other lawyers got finished with them the hospital would close down.
Oh puleeease! I have had black patients request only black nurses, females reject me for being a male, white and black patients reject filipina nurses. I have seen patients reject nurses just because they didn't like them on a personal level. What is the big deal? Your job is not to convert someone's life long beliefs in a few hours...
It is just as much their right to have their personal beliefs as it is yours. The last I heard, it is not illegal to be a racist of any color as long as you don't act on your beliefs in an illegal way. It is not illegal to reject a nurse for ANY reason. If we have the kind of nurse someone wants, we will accomadate the patient. If not, we tell them "Sorry, this is who you get" and politely explain no one else is available.
In spite of what I read on this thread , I do not believe any facility in this country refuses care to a person because of their personal beliefs. That would result in one heck of a law suit. Rejecting a nurse of another color is not illegal. Some people need to get off their high horse and get a grip on reality.
The problem comes when making assignments. Sure, there may be a nurse that fits whatever skin color that patient wants. But especially on smaller units, with fewer nurses each shift, there could be a very good reason that nurse NEEDS to be assigned to other patients who will now not get the care they need because some racist idiot wants someone assigned to him based on something other than his nursing needs.
There's been quite a few times that I've made assignments and struggled because I wanted the most competent nurse coming on to take a few patients that need close and careful monitoring that I didn't trust other nurses coming on to give. And in a few situations, the nurse coming in that I'm counting on is the only one coming in of that particular skin color. Now if the racist is requesting a white nurse but in my opinion needs the care that black nurse coming in is best to be giving, his loss. But if the racist is requesting a black nurse, and I have to give him the only black nurse coming in and I had other patients that I felt really needed the black nurse's skills, those other patients are at risk because of the accomodation.
Refuse care based on someone's prejudices? After the ACLU and other lawyers got finished with them the hospital would close down.
As someone said earlier, an epidural isn't required care. Don't want the black anesthesiologist? It's not the hospital refusing care, it's the patient. Don't want a black nurse? If that's all that we make available to you, it's not the hospital refusing care, it's the patient. I'm required to assign patients based on their clinical needs, not their racist beliefs.
I think those situations are a good time to politely explain that the nurse of their preference is not available and give them who you have. Tell them that if someone becomes available, they will be assigned to them. Treat them like you would any difficult patient. Ultimately, you call the shots and should not let any patient interrupt the routine on the floor or the care of others. Treat them as you would when women reject male nurses or men reject female nurses. Do your best to accomadate them then go about your business. If the patient refuses, treat it as another case of a patient rejecting care. Good documentation and lots of witnesses.
Struggling with assigments is just part of the job. Seems like if it is not one thing it is another.
I wish racist patients were the only problem I had. That would make work so much more pleasant. I would take a racist over some of the emotionaly/mentally ill family members/patients any day.
Ultimately, it is their right to request whever they want. It is not illegal. Hospitals DO NOT refuse treatment over requests like that and I think we all know that if another nurse is not available, the racist doesn't get who they want.
RNsRWe, ASN, RN
3 Articles; 10,428 Posts
This part made me smile....my mind immediately went to "well, what are we now that we're nurses, if not human? Robotrons?'" :)