Racial Biases Against Patients: Another Issue To Ponder

[Cali_Nurse_209]

Very interesting article, as I will be starting nursing school this fall. Made me really think about a lot of things and to make sure I'm aware of my actions.

[Cali22]

I think this is very important in healthcare and other areas as well. Patients are "patients" for a reason and dealing with racial bias certainly does not have a positive impact on their expectations for treatment. Therefore, in practice I tend to treat patients the same way I would like my family members to be treated with respect and caring.

[tothepointeLVN, LVN]

Certainly something to ponder. A problem I ran into in nursing school was my classmates assumed because I was white I would have certain racial bias against them not factoring in I'm not an American and that changes the way I perceive other races. I didn't grow up with the same racial tensions so I feel I'm a little more open though sometimes slightly ignorant through lack of exposure.

[sameasalways, ASN, RN]

I had similar experiences as "tothepointeLVN". I am from the pacific northwest and did not grow up or experience any type of racial bias growing up. The few people I met from a different race never behaved differently around me and like-wise the same for me around them. We all got along and it was awesome. I have lived in a lot of places,(Washington state, Idaho, california, Germany) but when I moved down South 5 years ago and began working, for the first time in my life I saw how differently another race sometimes treated and reacted to me. It was very very difficult for me to get used to. I was pretty frustrated and sometimes angry if there was any type of issue made out of something that didn't exist for me. I can't change what happened in the 50's down south or anything else that happened down south that revolved around racial inequality. Sometimes a patient or a patient's family members automatically regard me with disdain from the time I enter their room. I get tired of the "stink eye" and attitude when I work my tail off to provide high quality care for EVERYONE regardless of race.

[HM-8404, BSN, RN]

I grew up a Navy brat, then served in the Navy. My home of record is Alabama. I had always been around people of all races. I am here to inform you that racial bias is not limited to the "South." Some of the most racially biased people I came in contact with were from upstate New York. Even people of the same race are oftentimes biased toward each other, Mongolians and Chinese (Learned this from my Physics Professor), Mexicans and Puerto Ricans, even light skinned African-Americans and dark skinned African-Americans.

[tuhcoolyuh]

I think the term "blacks" should be changed to African-Americans, especially because Caucasians are not referred to as "whites" in the same article. It comes off as racially insensitive, ironically enough.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I think the term "blacks" should be changed to African-Americans, especially because Caucasians are not referred to as "whites" in the same article. It comes off as racially insensitive, ironically enough.

Hi, there. I am the one who wrote the aforementioned article. I am also a black female, and I do not intend to be racially insensitive in any way whatsoever. I am simply bringing this issue to light.

You'll notice that the introductory paragraph describes 'Norma' as an African-American female. And in the fourth paragraph, the the terms 'white' and 'Caucasian' are both used.

You must realize that the sentences that utilize the term 'black' have been lifted from research articles with the original sources cited per APA format.

[hso5004]

I encountered an issue this morning. I am the minority in my place of work, being one of only a few white nurses in the whole hospital. This morning I was walking down the hall and my co-worker was by the nurses desk with one of her patients, flushing her PICC. The pt looked at me, smiled and said Hi, recognizing me by name, she then turned to the patient next to her (who also is white) and said "that one is my favorite right there" The nurse once finished, stormed away back into the med room yelling "you don't like me because I am not not white", "this is ridiculous these patients like her because she is white" Meanwhile I am hearing all of this while getting my meds ready. I didn't acknowledge a thing she was saying. This was not a racial issue at all. This nurse is known for being mean to patients and other staff. She was recently reported to the patient advocate by a patient earlier in the week, which I think fueled the fire. In her words she is "a kind, caring person". She is manipulative and lazy. The majority of the patients are drug addicts or previous drug addicts and she treats them as such, even the ones who aren't she treats them like they are all just med seekers. I don't agree with that at all, no matter what someones history is, they deserve to be treated with compassion when they are in the hospital. Patients have told me that she is often very slow at bringing their pain meds, and that I am the only one who asks "do you need anything" when I leave the room. So instead of recognizing that these patients prefer me because of my style of nursing, she plays the race card, and continued to mutter comments under her breath when I would walk through the nurses station. I sometimes feel that she has it out for me anyways, I haven't worked there a year yet and she has been there many many years. I come in with previous nursing experience and am already developed with my own nursing style. She has told me I "spend too much time with patients" "shuoldn't let them waste my time" and multiple things I have done she says "we don't do that on night shift, that needs left for days" no matter what the scenario is (changing a malfunctioning wound vac at 3am in the best interest of the patient is also the wrong thing to do. I should have turned it off and turned it back on at 630 am and left it to be dealt with on day shift. Sorry lady this is my nursing license and it is my job to look out for my patients, night shift or not. I know I went off on tangent away from the race issue but this is all very frustrating to me and puts me in an awkward position.

[frankie,RN]

I think the term "blacks" should be changed to African-Americans, especially because Caucasians are not referred to as "whites" in the same article. It comes off as racially insensitive, ironically enough.

Not all blacks would consider themselves to be African American. Some actually prefer to be considered as a black American. I guess because their ancestors came here almost 450years ago. I have no problem with the term black. It's what I am, regardless of how any other race labels them self.

Commuter. Another great article.:)

[TX.RN.Shannon]

But there can also be the issue in reverse---a patient who is not "white" not wanting to be taken care of by my totally Caucasian self. That.is hard, too.

[minnymi]

Racial bias has been detected in school admissions

are you referring to the bias against white students here? i know when i was in high school and looking into scholarships there were many scholarships that i would have qualified for based on GPA....if i were black.

i never understood why african americans who fought so hard for equality would be okay with colleges allowing a LOWER gpa than what was acceptable for a white person.

i came across scholarships that specifically outlined the gpa needed to be a 3.0 for an african american, but 3.5 for a white student.

i thought, "how unfair and how insulting to the black race."